It's been a wild week in Wisconsin politics. Nearly three weeks ago, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley announced that he was dropping out of the race. He endorsed current Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez, whose campaign promptly imploded amid campaign finance issues that led to the firing of her campaign manager.
Rodriguez vowed to limp on to the August 11 primary, and Wisconsin Democrats (WisDems) were putting all their hopes on her to knock the radical socialist Francesca Hong out of the race, fearing Hong would lose the general election. Unfortunately, Rodriguez ended her campaign, and WisDems went into full-blown panic mode.
That prompted them to ask David Crowley to return to the race and to get Governor Tony Evers to endorse him. So Crowley held a press conference last Saturday announcing that he was back and Evers, on a trip to Africa, endorsed him.
Turns out all that work may have been for naught, and Crowley is on his way to an embarrassing finish in the upcoming primary, with one poll showing him a distant third behind Hong and Mandela Barnes.
Wisconsin Senate Democratic Primary
— InteractivePolls (@IAPolls2022) July 21, 2026
🟦 Francesca Hong: 38%
🟦 Mandela Barnes: 30%
🟦 David Crowley: 9%
⬜️ Oth/not sure: 23%@WedgewoodPolls | 7/18-20 | 505 LVhttps://t.co/5PIRHTQjOY pic.twitter.com/68WBfKcd4G
The crosstabs aren't much better for Crowley. The only group that he makes any headway in is with non-white voters, and even then he's losing to Mandela Barnes by 14 points.
WI Governor Democratic Primary Crosstabs by @WedgewoodPolls
— InteractivePolls (@IAPolls2022) July 21, 2026
Age 18-29
• Hong: 55%
• Barnes: 13%
• Crowley: 4%
---
Age 65+
• Barnes: 39%
• Hong: 33%
• Crowley: 13%
——
White
• Hong: 42%
• Barnes: 28%
• Crowley: 7%
---
Non-White
• Barnes: 38%
• Crowley: 24%
• Hong: 15%… https://t.co/jCeRFBNtIP pic.twitter.com/lXe1k2IOcB
We have to imagine that Barnes, who wins non-white voters and voters over the age of 65, is livid at how the WisDems have absolutely abandoned his campaign, especially when you remember that Barnes served as Lt. Gov. under Evers during his first term.
LOL Crowley #'s are awful.
— Lvl 99 Libtard End Boss (@Investor4201) July 21, 2026
WisDems begged him to get back into the race, and he's going to lose in a landslide.
Of course Hong does best with Whites and worst with non-Whites. 😂 https://t.co/DpRhhBmxnc
— Wisconsin’s Conservative Sponge (@wiz_political) July 21, 2026
Gives more weight to the argument that the socialist movement is a white supremacist one, as a black NY politician claimed recently.
The establishment really messed up here. Rodriguez dropping out essentially handed the race to Hong. https://t.co/9sSIH5gTJy
— Arrest Trump 🇺🇦🇹🇼🇲🇽🇨🇦🇬🇱 (@DumpTrump_45) July 22, 2026
Rodriguez didn't have a choice. Her campaign was essentially broke.
The Democratic Primary is August 11, and it looks like the race is Hong's to lose.
Editor’s Note: The 2026 Midterms will determine the fate of President Trump’s America First agenda. Republicans must maintain control of both chambers of Congress.
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