The race was close, but Francesca Hong has conceded and the risk of a democratic socialist Governor for Wisconsin is over.

At least this time around.

Here's the NYT report (gift link):

My questions: 

• What proportion of the votes for Hong were supporters of the Republican candidate Tom Tiffany — voters who thought Hong would be a weak opponent for him? It was an open primary, and I saw some open encouragement of this behavior. Tiffany obviously had his nomination sewn up.  You can see that David Crowley only won by about 3,000 votes. How much larger would his margin of victory have been without those insincere strategic votes for Hong?

• Why did Hong concede so quickly, with such a narrow margin? Why not wait at least until all the votes are in? Why not ask for a recount? She's entitled to a recount if the margin is 1% or less, but it's only paid for by the state if it's less than 0.25%. To drag out the process after the primary would help Tiffany. That's good reason not to indulge in a recount, but why not wait until all 100% of the votes are counted? She conceded when it was less than 95%.

• Why were the polls so bad?! The final Marquette poll, from July 22–27, released July 29, had Hong at 38% and Crowley at 7%. There was also another candidate at 16% (Barnes), but he dropped out. Still, giving all the Barnes votes to Crowley would only put Crowley at 23%. That 38% for Hong looked awfully strong. But I wouldn't assume the polls got it wrong. The polls inspired a lot of people to attack Hong, making her look unusually foolish and driving a lot of Democrats into voting for what is practical and strategic and not for the radical who excited them so much.

• Speaking of exciting radicals in Wisconsin, these votes were falling into place as a highly visible and emotional street protest was escalating in Madison after the death of Corey Ruiz. Though Ruiz had apparently attacked the police with a knife, Hong quickly denounced his killing as "a state-sanctioned… execution." Those protests went on for 2 weeks, mostly during the period when there were no new polls. How much did those impassioned protests turn Wisconsin voters against Hong?

***

As for me, I was going to sit this one out, but in the end I did go over to the Congregational Church and cast a vote.

"Madison’s independent police monitor told News 3 Now that she stands by her words after she was seen on video Tuesday saying she 'will burn this city down.'"

Channel 3000 reports. 

“That comment is a metaphor,” [Aeiramique] Glass told News 3 Now during an interview Wednesday evening. “So many people have used that comment when they're talking about whether it be fighting against injustice when something is wrong, or when something happens.” Glass went on to say that she made the comment while speaking to people who she trusted, who understood her words. “I don't care that they were recording me,” she said. “I was in pain and had just gotten jumped by a lot of officers.”

This morning's random song encounters.

1. I woke up and looked at the phone to see that it was 4 in the morning, and it made me think of that Paul Simon song with the soaring line "4 in the morning/Crapped out/Yawning/Longing my life away." I found it on Spotify and played it through headphones, then found this version by Karen Carpenter (singing "crashed out" for "crapped out"):

2. On the way to the sunrise, the car played Fleetwood Mac's "Landslide," which has the line "Even children get older/Now I'm getting older too." Meade said aborted children don't get older, and it made me think of that Byrds recording of a Pete Seeger song with the line "I'm only 7 although I died/In Hiroshima, long ago/I'm 7 now as I was then/When children die, they do not grow":

3. I was reading the news about the dismantling of the "autonomous zone" here in Madison, including a letter said to be from the family of the man who, it seems, drew a knife on the police and was shot to death. It said: "We are entrusting The Pressure Movement" and "We are working directly with The Pressure Movement." What's the Pressure Movement? This song played in my head:

The crash of CRAZ.

Police have removed protestors pic.twitter.com/1UCL8law7e

— Laura Schulte (@SchulteLaura) August 4, 2026

ADDED: The protesters are ousted, but they have their photo op:

State police are now on scene too. Protestors are alleging that the streets division nearly hit a tent housing people with heavy equipment pic.twitter.com/J2vMshJ20g

— Laura Schulte (@SchulteLaura) August 4, 2026

Live look from about 5:20 this morning when I arrived at the encampment pic.twitter.com/v6fXE1keYG

— Laura Schulte (@SchulteLaura) August 4, 2026

"Seattle went though this years back. A whole block, lots of people. The city just gave it a little time and then one morning at about 4am..."

"... came in and announced the street will be cleaned in 10 minutes and everyone had to get out. They just rolled trucks down and tossed everything away and that was that. I think Madison will just need to do the same here. Let people do their thing for a bit, then wipe it clean and everyone moves on."

Says a commenter at the Reddit post, "A stroll through the autonomous zone. Who is responsible for bringing out all these porta-potties?"

"I'm glad that I didn't get arrested, and I'm glad that we get to feed Annie this banana."

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by @errands.show

I'm watching that because I was reading this NYT article, "'Errands' Should Be the Most Boring Show on the Internet/Fighting a traffic ticket. Hanging a curtain. Installing an air-conditioner. With his cult-hit online series, Noah Blau has made the mundane fascinating" (gift link).

As a student at New York University Tisch School of the Arts, Blau grew engrossed in the work of cinéma vérité auteurs like Frederick Wiseman and Ross McElwee while also immersing himself in the New York canon of John Cassavetes and Martin Scorsese.

“Scorsese’s ‘After Hours’ is like the ultimate errand,” he said. “That would be my dream episode — for someone to get so sidetracked on their errand that they get chased through SoHo by an angry mob, like in the film.”

That pushes all the right buttons for me. Also made me think of one of my favorite TV shows, "How to with John Wilson."

But I do have to home in on "Cops are usually kind of nice to me." How casually people enjoy their privileges. I need to check on how the heavy rains affected the people in the Corey Ruiz Autonomous Zone. 

ADDED: My son John has "17 thoughts on After Hours."

"Three stages keep the dancers moving and the listeners happy all day with a diverse mix of sounds including Latin soul by Orquesta SalSoul del Mad, roots rock veterans The Rousers, bluegrass..."

"... from Bigtooth, and of course fest favorites like VO5 and Steely Dane…and that’s only a small sample of the local bands; the fest also features tour stops by The Band Feel, Toronzo Cannon, Kelli Baker Band and others. Food and artisan vendors are also on offer, as well as kids' activities hosted by Canopy Center. Find the full schedule below and updates at atwoodfest.com...."

I'm quoting from the middle of the page at "CANCELED: AtwoodFest" (Isthmus).

At the top of the page: "Our community and our Marquette neighbors witnessed another horrific officer-involved shooting just blocks from our festival grounds, leaving us in deep pain and justified anger. In acknowledgment of what has happened far too often in our community and our country as a whole, this year's AtwoodFest, themed 'The Heartbeat of the Neighborhood,' is canceled...."

"The Dane County Farmers’ Market will still take place Saturday morning on the Capitol Square, though organizers say the market 'will look different.'"

"'It is not a celebration of local food, but a space where everyone can find food grown in their community to sustain themselves and be together,' the market said in a social media post."

In case you're thinking of going down to the Farmers' Market.

That's from "'My family needs justice': Relatives of Corey Ruiz speak out for first time since police shooting/Family members spoke at press event with civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who previously represented George Floyd's family" (WPR).

The Farmers' Market is a huge weekly event for ordinary Madisonians who are going about living their normal lives. Free speech is, of course, part of the much-loved tradition.

Here's the Market's Instagram message:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Dane County Farmers' Market (@danecofm)

"I just wanted to get to my house — that is it"/"We all just want to do something in this world."

🚨 NOW: Anti-police “protestors” are SURROUNDING a woman’s vehicle in Madison, Wisconsin as she BEGS for them to let her go

Madison is going to end up burning.

BLM is doing their best to make sure of it. pic.twitter.com/dliDbWvNXp

— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) July 25, 2026

ADDED: That's not a minor residential intersection but one of the most important intersections in downtown Madison.

Is that E Wash?
Do people understand how important arterial roads are on an isthmus? pic.twitter.com/Bcs9KQnxYw

— JoRL (@spaceghostRL) July 25, 2026

The protesters are not just expressing themselves but demanding that other people stop living their lives freely and become one with the protest.

I am reminded of something Michelle Obama said back in 2008: "Barack Obama ... is going to demand that you shed your cynicism. That you put down your divisions. That you come out of your isolation, that you move out of your comfort zones. That you push yourselves to be better. And that you engage. Barack will never allow you to go back to your lives as usual, uninvolved, uninformed." You can find that quote in "It’s All About Him," a William Kristol column in the NYT (gift link).

"This is a corrupt city. That's right. Have no fear, the anti-Zionist is here. You understand me?"

Emotions boiled over during today’s Madison Police Department press conference as community members interrupted Police Chief John Patterson following the fatal police shooting of Corey Ruiz.

The room reflected the grief, anger, and frustration many are feeling. One man took the… pic.twitter.com/F8uUmaL5O8

— Andrew Mercado (@AndrewMercado) July 23, 2026

That was yesterday, in Madison. Last night:

This looks and sounds all too familiar--I had a front row seat in Kenosha when it burned to the ground. Something about the cacophonous sounds of horns, whistles and the usual antifa noise makers has the memories rushing back from 6 years ago. Imagine this for 3 days straight,…

— The Corridor News (@CorridorScanner) July 24, 2026

This is Francesca Hong, a Democratic Socialist who is ahead in the polls for the Democratic Party nomination for Wisconsin governor, speaking in the streets of Madison yesterday after a fatal shooting by the police.

pic.twitter.com/YXlgytpDrc

— Laura Schulte (@SchulteLaura) July 23, 2026

For background on the polling: "Democratic socialist leads Wisconsin Democratic gubernatorial field: Poll" (The Hill).

For background on the shooting: "Wisconsin officer kills man armed with knife, police say, as shooting sparks protests/Madison police said that after a chase and a struggle, a man who was being sought pulled out a knife and injured an officer, which led to the deadly shooting" (NBC News)("Videos of the shooting were captured by bystanders and were circulated online. One of them, verified by NBC News, appears to show officers holding on to the man as someone yells, 'Let go!' Multiple shouts of 'He’s got a knife!' can be heard....The shooting was not captured on body camera video, which the Madison Police Department does not widely use").

ADDED: Interrupting the Concerts on the Square can't be the best way to win over moderates. It was a beautiful day and this is an extremely well-established and much-loved Madison tradition:

Protesters have taken the stage at Concerts on the Square pic.twitter.com/PPXQo6Jgm9

— Madison365 (@madison_365) July 23, 2026

AND: Here's bystander video of the incident.