Tonight's all about @DavidCCrowley. He's earned this win and the accolades.
— Tony Evers (@Tony4WI) August 12, 2026
I am so proud of David—he's the future of our Party, and I can't wait for him to be our next governor.
For now, we polka. Tomorrow, we're back at work to win.@TomTiffanyWI, we'll see you in November.
Tony Evers has repeatedly used variations of “polka tonight / get to work tomorrow” as a lighthearted Wisconsin-flavored way to mark celebrations. Examples include:
• His 2019 inauguration speech: “Let’s polka tonight and get to work tomorrow.”• After his 2022 re-election win: “We’re gonna polka tonight and get back to work tomorrow!”• Other personal posts and events where he references polka (including dancing with his wife Kathy and proclamations for Wisconsin Polka Day).
Polka is Wisconsin’s official state dance (designated in 1994), rooted in the state’s large Central and Eastern European immigrant heritage (Polish, German, Czech, etc.). It’s a cheerful, folksy cultural shorthand that fits Evers’ public persona as a down-to-earth Wisconsin native who also talks about euchre, fish fries, cheese curds, and Badgers sports.
In the Crowley primary victory post, “For now, we polka” simply continues that tradition: celebrate the win in classic Wisconsin style, then pivot immediately to the general election work against Tom Tiffany. It’s folksy branding more than a specific reference to Crowley or the race itself.
I've only lived in Wisconsin for 40 years. I have yet to catch on to the folkways.
It doesn't get much more Wisconsin than this. Gov. Evers and his wife celebrated the inauguration with a polka dance on Tuesday night. 💃🧀
— Spectrum News 1 Wisconsin (@SpectrumNews1WI) January 4, 2023
🎥: Megan Marshall pic.twitter.com/skoOaPHeux
Posts
77 comments:
Crowley has never done the polka. Colonialist dance. Racist.
Wasnt Lawerance Welk the "King of the Polka"? Does Minnesota do the polka? I don't think so, they're too boring.
Don’t forget to invite Yosh and Stan Schmenge !
Where there's Polish, there's polka. Are there any Polish Americans left?
LOL!
Democrat voters are just stupid AF.
Back in 1987 or 1988, I went on a long Amtrak trip across the country, visiting friends and family. In time for New Year's, I was visiting a friend from college who'd just had a baby. They lived in Milwaukee. She ended up staying in on New Year's Eve (baby was colicky), but her husband and I and couple of her friends went to couple of parties. It was the first time I had encountered THAT much polka music. Come midnight, we were dancing to something called the "Japanese Twist", IIRC, played by a very local polka band. Surreal, to me, at the time, but it really was great fun, and almost 40 years later, it's still one of the standout New Year's Eves of my lifetime.
Talk about fusion! I guess Milwaukee was ahead of its time, at that time.
Or something.
I thought Roman Empire, then I was inspired...
She was afraid that somebody would see
Two, three, four
Tell the people what she wore
It was an itsy, bitsy, teenie, weenie, yellow, polka dot bikini
That she wore for the first time today
WSAU AM 550 in Wausau ,WI has a 9AM - Noon show called Polka Party. Five hours of Polka music. Used to listen to it when heading up to my lake home. Only thing you can get until you get closer to Minocqua where you switch to local AM station that would run one of those dumb shows where people called in to list things they have for sale.
Brewers have people dancing the polka to "Roll out The Barrel" on the dugout roofs during the 7th inning stretch.
My Wisconsin nephew married a Wisconsin woman. The father-daughter dance at their wedding started out as most wedding dances, then turned into the "Beer Barrel Polka". It was hilarious and very Wisconsinish.
LOL! Wong defeated by late night ballot drop.
You can't make this up.
Hong wins in a legitimate election.
"For now, we polka. Tomorrow, we're back at work to win."
Now is the time on Sprockets when we dance!!!
The deafeningly loud gunpowder powered electric polka has been cancelled. For now.
“I have yet to catch on to the folkways.”
…what I suspected. I bet the polka talk doesn’t catch with the black folks, either…
…I find it funny they’re celebrating but they haven’t won anything yet…
Don't Wisconsin require 50%+ for nomination
Hong would’ve been a disaster in the general election, and the Wisconsin governorship could be quite important if the Republicans try to overturn another election in 2028.
I'm not sure I've ever encountered a more crushing American insult than : "font of zany liberal, faculty lounge exotica" ~ David Axelrod Perfect.
Knowing Axelrod's priorities and views, it is safe to say that he's hell-bent only on keeping unelectable candidates out of politics, since he knows that power is the essential first principle..
When they were done dancing the polka to Beer Barrel Polka at Miller Park my son would yell out "Ahora en español"
In my student days at Madison, many years ago, for Oktoberfest and Fasching they would clear the tables out of the Rathskellar and put in rotating polka bands. If one of the bands dared play a waltz, the crowd would chant Polka! Polka! Polka! Beer was served.
I just assumed that Wisconsin had a large legacy Polish community. I grew up in Detroit, which also, once upon a time, had a huge Polish community. It was centered in the town of Hamtramck, which is a small municipality surrounded by Detroit. Hamtramck is now a fully Muslim city, with Muslim leaders, the call to prayer filling the sounds of the street, and no polka allowed. Not today, not ever.
Pazckis replaced by rasmalai.
So I guess Lawrence Welk, a Norwegian, was culturally appropriating the polka for his own personal greed and fame.
Come on up to the Valmy Thresheree this weekend. There’ll be a Polka Mass on Saturday night with an orchestra. The Polka Mass will be held after a barn dance, so wear your dancing shoes. (The Lutheran service is held Sunday morning.)
If you play the clarinet and know how to polka, you can make a couple of bucks now and then. Cleveland style is with string bass. Make it bounce.
Cousin's wedding in late 60's small-town Wisconsin west of Marinette -- polka in the air until closing with an abundance of local beer.
Dancing is a vertical expression of a horizontal idea.
Though I was born in lacrosse, I've only attended one Wisconsin Oktoberfest - there was poker.
I can attest that in Texas, people old and young dance two-step. It's tons of fun! But there is also a WurstFest in New Braunfels, TX, at which poker rules. Some of the polka bands are purely traditional; others play popular other-genre music in polka style.
Do dems cheat when they need - even on their own team?
For years there was a Sunday morning television show on the local station in Green Bay featuring the stylings of the Alvin Styczynski Polka Band; they would prerecord the show and various couples would be shown dancing the polka to what Alvin and the gang were throwing down. My aunt and uncle were regulars on the program. It wasn't great television by any means, but it drew a regular audience for many years. Alvin sold enough records over the years to make him a name in the polka biz, but he never reached the heights that his Minnesota counterpart, Whoopee John Wilfahrt, did. To paraphrase the old Smuckers ad, with a name like Whoopee John Wilfahrt, it's got to be good.
I asked Grok about hour-by-hour vote totals in this race. Here's the response:
"Polls closed at 8 p.m. CT (9 p.m. ET). Reporting began shortly after, with early returns favoring David Crowley slightly. The race between Crowley (Milwaukee County Executive) and Francesca Hong (state representative) stayed extremely close (roughly 40% each for most of the night), with other candidates (including Kelda Roys and withdrawn candidates still on the ballot such as Sara Rodriguez and Mandela Barnes) taking the rest. A human-error delay in uploading Milwaukee City absentee/central-count results (wrong data on some USB drives) pushed major updates into the early morning of August 12. " (Source - wisn.com)
Outcomes that are needed - can be blamed on glitches.
Hong was leading comfortably in all polls. She had the backing of the progressive mainstream media. And she still lost. There's no other way to describe that except as a huge upset.
Her margin was that slim in large part due to Republicans "crossing over" and voting for her knowing her DSA radicalism would greatly benefit the GOP candidate.
Peachy+2 said...
Do dems cheat when they need - even on their own team?
Republicans are right there with them.
Why do you think Thune opposed the SAVE act?
Do you think "republicans" like Thune win primaries without fraud?
Indefinitely Extended Excursion™️ said...
Hong was leading comfortably in all polls. She had the backing of the progressive mainstream media. And she still lost. There's no other way to describe that except as a huge upset.
Her margin was that slim in large part due to Republicans "crossing over" and voting for her knowing her DSA radicalism would greatly benefit the GOP candidate.
LOL!
They didn't even bother to "mail in" the "votes" this time.
They just conveniently "lost" 5 usb sticks in Milwaukee County.
It is hilarious to watch dumbfucks like you pretend.
On the last Saturday of June/July/August, the Germans in Ann Arbor open their picnic area to the public. Again, polka and beer and authentic food, attended by thousands.
Weird Al approves.
If the D's can continue to cheat in Milwaukee - this is a problem.
Thune wants the save act himself - he just is a poor leader. He cannot get the 4 no votes to switch.
My cable company used to carry RFD TV which is a pretty cool channel, exactly what the name says. One of the shows I used to particularly enjoy was the Jimmy Stuhr Show. Mostly polka featuring Frankie Urbanavich on fiddle and Johnny Karas on the world's most disreputable looking (but sweet sounding) sax.
John Henry
https://youtu.be/JSZvk7nRNHA?si=AeQEU4WcOnS4OgwM
So instead of the Beer Test Wisconsin could have the Polka Test.
I'm being drawn into the PDQ Bach vortex on YT. Right now it's the Liebeslieder Polkas.
I wanted to post on the Asian Pop/White Pop Grammys thread a complaint about the Grammys dropping the Polka award. I don't know how many polka albums and singles drop each year, but it was a slap in the face of polka fans, all the more so since some of the genres that still have awards aren't any more popular.
First signs that there are in fact some limits to electability in the US.
It’s like a Wisconsin wedding, you can’t leave until they do the Hokey Pokey.
"Her margin was that slim in large part due to Republicans "crossing over" and voting for her knowing her DSA radicalism would greatly benefit the GOP candidate.
8/12/26, 8:47 AM
----
You mean she lost despite polling and some level of R "operation chaos" tactics.
Old Biden loyalists - that seems to be the operating procedure for D -installations.
So what was the factor that led Crowley to re-enter the race if polling was so Hongtastic?
"They just conveniently "lost" 5 usb sticks in Milwaukee County."
Achilles can join Mike Lindell in questioning the mail in ballots for Lisa Demuth in the MN governor's race.. 🤡🤡
When I attended Notre Dame (1968-1972) a bunch of us would occasionally head north into Niles, Michigan on Sunday night, to a place called Kubiak's, IIRC. We drank and polka'd. The girls from St. Mary's were in great demand and were quite well aware of that. (An early real world example of supply-and-demand economic theory.) The "townies" were not always thrilled with our presence, but we never had any trouble, unlike what we ran into when we blundered into South Bend.
I was looking for some polka videos so I could mock the shit out of polka because oh my God I hate polka so much, polka turns me into a self-hating racist, anyway the good news is that I got side-tracked and saved by this
Russian Cossack dance, which is awesome.
Living in Wisconsin and going to school in Stevens Point, I understand the polka reference. I totally take issue with the Evers comment about their hard work. This was again the conservative/republicans blowing it. While being "unattached" some PAC's spent a great deal of money pointing out how radical and nuts Hong was. IMO, they were assuming she was goint to be the nominee and they were priming the election for the match between Tiffany and Hong. They simply scared the dems into Crowly. I belive he will be a much harder candidate to beat.
YouTube : Groundhog Day (1993) Just the Pennsylvania Polka scenes
So instead of the Beer Test Wisconsin could have the Polka Test. ....
How to GUZZLE vs HOW TO CONNECT DOTS?!
Thune wants the save act himself - he just is a poor leader. He cannot get the 4 no votes to switch ....
Just 4?
I thought there was filibuster to overcome!!
"I live in Wisconsin and I feel like I'm paying attention, "
If you don't know about polka, you're not paying attention.
Saint Croix said...
I was looking for some polka videos so I could mock the shit out of polka because oh my God I hate polka so much,
I feel the same way about folk and bluegrass.
For years and years (1960s-80s) there used to be a roadsign somewhere on the way from Fond du Lac to Chilton advertising Syl Groeschel. Watching that linked video was the first time I actually ever heard him.
Back around 1992 or so the Badgers came out to WA to play the Huskies and there was a wild contingent of WI fans there (mostly local I would imagine). We amused the local citizenry by having a band concert at Seattle Center the night before (with abundant polka-ing) and then we did the 5th quarter, again with abundant polka-ing in the stands. The Spousal Unit would not participate.
Apparently, we confused the local seagull population that was used to swooping in after the end of the game and gobbling up dropped food.
"…but we never had any trouble, unlike what we ran into when we blundered into South Bend."
Just stay out of Mishawaka.
"This was again the conservative/republicans blowing it. While being "unattached" some PAC's spent a great deal of money pointing out how radical and nuts Hong was. "
I saw a "Hong is nuts" Tiffany ad *before* the primary. My thought was, "Are you stupid? Why are you doing this?"
Curious G: "When they were done dancing the polka to Beer Barrel Polka at Miller Park my son would yell out "Ahora en español""
Polka and German oom-pah-pah are key ingredients of Mexican folk music and even their modern pop. You can hear a lot of accordions etc wafting out of the work trucks at any jobsite today. CC, JSM
You need a facial wart to really polka.
A bullet barely dodged by Wisconsin. Maybe next time.
Achilles said…”Do you think "republicans" like Thune win primaries without fraud?”
My response/prediction? John Thune won’t be winning any further Republican primaries.
Are we still dancing, prancing around talking about women who wear teenie, weenie, yellow polka dot bikinis?
Tony is Evers the sly fox in the hen house.
I noticed, while processing absentees yesterday, that many many Hong votes were present, far more than any other candidate. And yet the precinct went 2 to 1 for Crowley. Early voters chose Hong. Then the Willy Street encampment happened, and her support vanished. In-person voters dumped Hong.
"A bullet barely dodged by Wisconsin. Maybe next time."
We'd have been better off with Hong as the candidate.
"Then the Willy Street encampment happened, and her support vanished."
I wondered about that.
Evers just wrecked his reputation as limp-wristed Mr Nice Guy. All the photo ops at every LGBTQ bookstore aren't gonna put Humpty-Dumpty Evers ever together again. Corruption in the cornfields.
The Dems planned to attack Tiffany as an election denier because he agreed with Trump that the 2020 election was stolen and that means stolen partly by Dems in Wisconsin. So the Dems planned to talk about how safe and secure elections are in Wisconsin and what a terrible person Tiffany was for questionisng election practices in Wisconsin. Well,, after last night Tiffany looks like a major prophet.
Although the once dominant German heritage is fading in Wisconsin, any Wisconsinite knows what Evers means by the Polka reference. It's still a big deal at all the Oktoberfests throughout the state. It's also very WHITE. Democrats took down Hong (who hates white people). Now they have to get white people to vote for the black Milwaukee County Executive.
Professor Althouse. I can't believe you've lived in Wisconsin this long and don't get the Polka significance. But, you've spent your time in the Madison bubble. Madison hates the Polka parts of Wisconsin. So, I guess it makes sense you we're never exposed to it.
Madison thinks "Jump Around" is the state anthem. But for the rest of the state it's "The Beer Barrel Polka." Or #2, "I Don't Want Her, You Can Have Her, She's Too Fat for Me."
I've followed this blog since 2011. This is the first time I thought Althouse never became a Wisconsinite. I'm 57. When I was a kid, my WWII relatives, would fly around the dance floor when the band played Polka's at a wedding. They taught the Boomers, Boomers taught Gen X. It stopped there.
For the next Meadehouse road trip, I suggest hitting Oktoberfest in a red WI County. I think for Althouse it would be like visiting a foriegn country. Shorter drive.
You are worldly, and brilliant, but don't understand the WI divide. Tony Evers does.
A local Green Bay station has a show every Sunday morning called 'Polka, Polka, Polka". Filmed at some a different VFW hall or something with a different polka band. My wife and watch it from time to time just for kicks.
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