Wisconsin Governor-elect David Crowley Celebrates Victory in His Hometown Milwaukee

Milwaukee County Executive, now Governor-elect, David Crowley walked on stage to a massive cheer from his hometown Milwaukee crowd at 10:06 p.m. on Tuesday to give his victory speech, William Contreras’ walk-up song booming.

Wisconsin’s soon-to-be first Black governor began his speech with the usual thanks: to his wife, kids, running mate, campaign staff and more. But his speech focused on one of the major issues he ran on, crossing the aisle and working with Republicans to help all Wisconsinites.

“Wisconsin isn’t a red state or a blue state; we never have been,” said Crowley during his speech. “In a state this close, nobody gets to govern alone.”

For the next two years, however, Democrats essentially do get to govern alone; for the first time since the 2008 election Wisconsin Democrats will have a trifecta. This means that Democrats will control both chambers of the state legislature and the governor’s office. When one party controls all three, they can pass a lot more legislation without opposition. The Democratic success in Wisconsin also swept incumbent congressman and legislators out of office and mirrored results throughout the country. Congress fell into Democratic hands, as did many governorships.

Republicans held a trifecta in Wisconsin during the Scott Walker era, 2011-2018, which saw major and decisive bills like Act 10, which Democrats have promised to repeal.

“I wouldn’t be surprised at all if the Democrats put at the top of their agenda, undoing a lot of the things that were passed during Scott Walker’s term,” said Kennan Ferguson, the director of graduate studies at UW-Milwaukee’s Political Science Department.

The Republican candidate, Representative Tom Tiffany, wished Crowley good luck in his concession speech.

“While we have our differences, we both love this great state, and I wish him and his family the very best as he prepares to serve as Wisconsin’s next governor,” said Tiffany.

Crowley echoed this sentiment in his speech, too.

“Despite our differences, I never doubted that he loves the state that we both call home,” said Crowley.

Gov. Tony Evers said he would not endorse a candidate yet then endorsed Crowley before the primaries. The endorsement was critical to Crowley’s narrow victory in the primary.

Evers, who Crowley thanked as a personal and professional role model during his speech and who celebrated on stage after Crowley’s victory in Milwaukee, posted this statement.

My statement on Governor-elect @DavidCrowleyWI’s victory tonight ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/IhkktGG5g3

— Governor Tony Evers (@GovEvers) November 4, 2026

A common top issue among attendees of the election party was reproductive health rights.

“Milwaukee has had some of the highest STI (sexually transmitted infection) numbers in the country,” said Kathy Hartkey, a retired OB-GYN who has been knocking on doors for politicians with her friend since they were 17 years old, to fight for reproductive health rights. “Our public health clinics haven’t had enough staffing, money or education. We’ve got to stop that and give people healthy lifestyles.”

“To me, as a woman, as a mother, as a sister, I just want to see women’s reproductive freedom thrive,” said Serena Struck, a single mom and content creator.

Others were focused on affordable healthcare.

“Expansion of BadgerCare, expansion of healthcare, it’s something that directly impacts a lot of families throughout the economic spectrum,” said Zac Shipley, a realtor. “My wife and I are both independent contractors, so we don’t have corporate health benefits or anything to fall back on.”

National politics became a foundational issue in this Wisconsin governor’s race, like it has all over the nation in the 2026 midterm elections.

Under the Trump administration, national political climate has become hostile to the GOP due to the war in Iran, cost of living and more. The Marquette Law School Poll conducted Oct. 12-20 found that in Wisconsin, Trump job approval declined to 37%.

Crowley, like many Democrat candidates across the nation, campaigned against his opponent often by criticizing Tiffany’s support of Trump in Congress. In Crowley’s opening statement in the only Wisconsin governor debate he mentioned Tiffany’s support of Trump.

“Someone [Tiffany] who’s going to work for the billionaires that are bankrolling their campaign or doing exactly what Donald Trump wants them to do because they voted with them 100% of the time,” said Crowley.

The Marquette poll found that voters of both parties agree on Tiffany’s loyalty to Trump, finding that among all registered voters 87% believed he had supported Trump at least most of the time.

“It’s really hard to disentangle the national parties at this point,” said Ferguson. “There used to be a lot of distance between, say, a Colorado Democrat and the National Democratic Party, and that just doesn’t exist in the same way anymore. I think that the enthusiasm that people have for the national party very much translates at the local level.”

With Wisconsin Democrats gaining a trifecta for the first time since 2008 and Democrats winning full control of Congress, national opposition to the Republican Party under Trump appears to have played a significant role in the midterm elections.

Crowley had a unique path to candidacy; he dropped out of the race on July 8, after Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez beat him in early polling. Then, after a campaign finance scandal that led Rodriguez to drop out just nine days later, he rejoined the race on July 17.

Crowley was clearly the Democratic Party’s favorite candidate, of his $31.7 million total donations, $15.7 million came from the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, according to finance records.

Despite the party’s support, it seemed like Democratic Socialist State Assemblywoman Francesca Hong was going to win the Democratic primary. A Marquette poll conducted July 22-27, just 13 days before the primary found Hong leading with 38%, followed by former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes with 16% and Crowley at just 7%.

In surprise to many, Crowley defeated Hong on Aug. 11 by just under 4,000 votes.

“For some people, continuity and stability are very important,” said Ferguson. “The more progressive wing of the party is a little more fragile; they really have to motivate people to want to get to the polls.”