David Crowley elected governor of Wisconsin, defeating Tom Tiffany
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Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley won Wisconsin’s gubernatorial race, keeping the office in Democratic hands after defeating Republican Representative Tom Tiffany in a closely fought contest that reflected the power of an affordability agenda and strong turnout in the state’s urban centers.
Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley has been projected as the winner of Wisconsin’s governor’s race, defeating Republican Representative Tom Tiffany and preserving Democratic control of the office in the swing state despite a fierce right-wing challenge. Crowley becomes the first Black person to hold the governorship and, at 40, the youngest elected governor in the state in nearly a century. He succeeds two-term Governor Tony Evers, who stepped in to support Crowley’s campaign after it was briefly suspended in July.
Crowley’s campaign centered on an affordability agenda aimed at lowering household costs for childcare, health care and housing, with that work largely tied to increased state spending. He underscored his lived experience, pointing to growing up in a low-income area of Milwaukee and enduring family homelessness and parental drug addiction. Before becoming county executive in 2020, Crowley served in the state Assembly and worked as a community organizer and political aide.
Republican candidate Tiffany, who represents a largely rural district in northern Wisconsin, entered the race amid a national political climate that pre-election polling showed was increasingly unfavorable to President Donald Trump. Tiffany’s campaign attacked Crowley over property and sales-tax increases enacted while he was county executive and over statements supporting undocumented immigrants. His fundraising advantage came largely from three billionaire donors.
In the final weeks of the campaign, Crowley received endorsements from several national Democratic figures, including former President Barack Obama, former Vice President Kamala Harris and Maryland Governor Wes Moore. The race was decided by a margin of fewer than 4,000 votes, with strong support for Crowley coming from Milwaukee County and Dane County, the two most populous and Democratic-leaning areas in the state.