"Wisconsin voters have spoken, and Democrats will hold a governing trifecta for the first time in nearly two decades."

"Governor-elect David Crowley, Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer, and Senate Minority Leader Dianne Hesselbein will set the agenda in Madison.... The new Democratic leadership also lacks any real private-sector experience. Crowley built his career in campaign organizing and political staff work. Neubauer and Hesselbein have the same resume. They know politics. Being good at politics will mean paying back their powerful political allies.... Many newly elected Democrats presented themselves as moderates; their leadership team has a different agenda. Wisconsin’s strengths—our workforce, our communities, and our tradition of common-sense governance—are durable. Republicans will work every day to protect those strengths, highlight what is working, and prepare for the moment when voters again choose balance and results over one-party control...."

Writes Robin Vos, who has been the speaker of the Wisconsin State Assembly since 2013.

The racial inequity of beer gardens.

David Crowley says beer gardens contribute to “racial inequity” because they are “predominately supported by white users.”

Since when did enjoying a cold one become about race? pic.twitter.com/Qa4QVsoCxn

— Tom Tiffany (@TomTiffanyWI) September 23, 2026

I asked Grok to fact check:

Comedian strategies.

Link.

I want to know more. Was this a prank of a sort that some people will admire and think of as what the supposedly legitimate polling business deserves?

ADDED: What else did Median Strategies do? My first thought was Spencer Pratt.

"For now, we polka."

Tonight's all about @DavidCCrowley. He's earned this win and the accolades.

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 (@Tony4WI) August 12, 2026

I live in Wisconsin and I feel like I'm paying attention, but I had to ask Grok about the significance of the polka. Answer:

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.

Governor Evers doesn't want to spend any time on "that bullshit that others are talking about."

You can ask him 100 times, and he's "going to give you the same damn answer: The issue is around getting things done."

"We're going to spend time on that bullshit that others are talking about on Twitter? Please."

Gov. Evers campaigning for David Crowley tonight in an attempt to stop Democratic Socialist Francesca Hong from winning next Tue: "You can ask me 100 times, and I'm going to give you… pic.twitter.com/336tlTDfhB

— Matt Smith (@mattsmith_news) August 4, 2026

I'm afraid "getting things done" is awfully generic. Francesca Hong is the frontrunner. You can't just refuse to talk about her. I'm not even sure what he's calling "bullshit." Is it Hong's issues or is it what her antagonists are saying about her? I don't see how refusing to engage and asserting that your candidate will "get things done" can turn things around. I'm here in Wisconsin, planning to vote in the primary, and monitoring the news every day, and David Crowley has made no impression on me. Personally, I'm a sucker for blandness and normality and moderation, but I understand the appeal of a candidate like Hong who stands for something and offers to shake everything up.

ADDED: I published this post and clicked on my "David Crowley" link and realize "that bullshit that others are talking about" may refer to the dirt (McGirk) about Crowley. Crowley had made an impression on me, 2 weeks ago, but the impression had worn off. Evers cleverly kept me from remembering it. I'll give him that.

"You want voters to believe you posted to this account but all of the bad things came from someone else, including a friend who is dead?"

When asked today if he was 100% certain he didn't write any of the offensive posts on the 'Dirt McGirk' Twitter account, David Crowley said, "Look, we would have to go through all of these different posts, but the ones that I've seen that were printed, I did not write those." pic.twitter.com/UWAvPn57n5

— Matt Smith (@mattsmith_news) July 24, 2026

Background: "Controversial old social media account linked to Wisconsin Democratic gubernatorial candidate David Crowley/Crowley's campaign confirmed to NBC News that he registered the account but denied authoring any of the controversial posts, saying it was operated by 10 to 12 others to promote a bar and social club" (WTMJ Milwaukee).