Embedded Files
The Democrat’s Gubernatorial, David Crowley, barely won the August primary by fewer than 4,000 votes over Francesca Hong. The dues-paying Democratic Socialists of America member had led polls by double digits for months. Hong took 39.3 percent. Crowley took 39.8 percent.
That razor-thin result did not end the fight over the party’s left flank. It seems to have only postponed it.
After her Defeat, Hong Reemerged this weekend on a Statewide Tour, telling her supporters to vote Democratic down the ballot and not to write her in. In an Interview with Matt Smith over the weekend she urged that Crowley needs show her voters that he shares their values. “I think it’s important that David lets our supporters know that he shares our values,” she said this weekend. The phrasing here was surprisingly careful (Especially for Hong). It is also why Crowley will not be asked, in any serious way, whether he supports the DSA. The question is too dangerous. Every possible answer costs him votes he cannot afford to lose.
The Hong Wing Is Not Going Away. Hong’s campaign was not some vanity project, it is now the Base of the Party, dominating Dane County and other progressive pockets. This forced the Democratic establishment to scramble late in the Primary. Crowley had dropped out of the race, then re-entered with Evers’ backing specifically to stop her. Establishment Democrats feared she could not beat Republican Rep. Tom Tiffany in November. They were also afraid of what her nomination would say about the direction of the party.
Hong remains the face of that wing. Local DSA voices have already signaled they will not simply fall in line. After the primary they urged Crowley to adopt parts of Hong’s platform. Turnout from her voters is not guaranteed (Though it is likely). Crowley needs those votes, this election will be close. Early post-primary polling showed Crowley with a modest lead among likely voters and a tie among registered voters. Independents and suburban voters will decide it. So will whether the left shows up.
The DSA is not some vague progressive label. Hong is a member. During the primary he minimized policy differences with Hong, saying they were “saying the exact same thing in different ways” and that the real question was who could get things done. After winning, he refused to campaign with far-left streamer Hasan Piker. When pressed later on whether there was any DSA platform item he would reject, he evaded. Asked specifically about the platform, he said he had not looked at it. That is not an accident-It his strategy.
A clear answer creates two losing paths:
If Crowley denounces the DSA, Hong’s voters will feel betrayed (more than they already do). The activists and younger progressives who almost nominated her can sit out, write her in anyway, In a race this tight, that would fatal.
If he Endorses the Platform, Republicans will run the tape. Tiffany’s allies already call Crowley “Socialist Sweetheart” adjacent and argue there is “no real difference” between him and Hong. Moderates, independents, and “normies” who rejected Hong in the primary will hear that the Democratic nominee will not police his own left.
All the while Tom Tiffany has a United Party, is well Funded, and has a winning Message: The Democratic nominee will not draw a line against the socialist wing that almost took the nomination, and Wisconsin voters already saw what that wing looks like, and Rejected it.
Whether that argument lands depends on turnout, independents, and whether Crowley can keep his contradiction from becoming the story.
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse