MADISON, Wis. — Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley has won Wisconsin’s race for governor, NBC News projects, defeating Republican Rep. Tom Tiffany and ensuring the key swing state remains under Democratic control.
With his victory, the 40-year-old Crowley makes history as the first Black person elected governor of Wisconsin. He also secures his place as the youngest governor elected in the state in nearly a century. Crowley will succeed two-term Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, whose political intervention proved instrumental during a turbulent primary season earlier this summer.
Crowley’s win marks the conclusion of a remarkable political comeback. In July, he had briefly suspended his campaign while polling in the single digits. However, a high-profile endorsement from Evers fueled a dramatic relaunch just 10 days later. Crowley narrowly survived a heated primary against state Rep. Francesca Hong, winning by fewer than 4,000 votes after moderate Democrats coalesced around his candidacy, fearing a more left-leaning nominee could not carry the general election.
Throughout the general campaign, Crowley faced a significant financial disadvantage against Tiffany, who represents a rural northern district and benefited from massive backing by three billionaire megadonors. Despite this, Crowley leaned heavily into an “affordability agenda,” advocating for increased state spending to lower the costs of childcare, housing, and healthcare for working families.
Central to his platform was his own life story. Crowley frequently spoke to voters about his upbringing in one of Milwaukee’s poorest neighborhoods, where he experienced poverty and homelessness while his parents battled drug addiction. His career as a community organizer, political aide, and state Assembly member, followed by his tenure as Milwaukee County executive, became the foundation of a narrative that resonated with his base in the state’s most populous, reliably Democratic regions: Milwaukee and Dane Counties.
Tiffany, meanwhile, struggled against national political headwinds. As public sentiment toward former President Donald Trump soured in the state, Crowley’s campaign aggressively characterized the congressman as a “loyal Trump acolyte.” Republicans attempted to counter this by targeting Crowley’s record on property and sales taxes in Milwaukee County and his previous public support for undocumented immigrants.
Despite an intense Republican advertising blitz that temporarily saw an increase in voters viewing Crowley unfavorably, the Democrat was buoyed in the final stretch by national party figures, including former President Barack Obama, former Vice President Kamala Harris, and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore.
While some Democrats had initially worried that Crowley’s late entry into the general election race would leave him without enough time to define himself, his focus on affordability and his personal journey ultimately neutralized the GOP attacks. By holding the line in the state’s urban centers, Crowley secured a victory that preserves the Democratic hold on the governor’s office in one of the nation’s most closely watched battlegrounds.
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