Democrat David Crowley outperformed polling results in winning a close race over Francesca Hong to become the party’s candidate for governor.
That’s after Hong held 38% support in the primary compared to 7% from Crowley in a late July Marquette Poll and a State Navigate poll released on Aug. 6 had similar results.
“The clear thing is that the vast majority of late-deciding voters went to Crowley and very few went to Hong,” Marquette Law School Poll Director Charles Franklin wrote. “The race was complicated by three candidates dropping out, and Crowley reentering, in the final month.”
Former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes held 16% support in the Marquette Poll before he dropped out of the race.
Franklin also said that Gov. Tony Evers’ endorsement of Crowley as he reentered the race made a difference.
“In our final poll, more than one-third (36%) of Democratic primary voters said that this endorsement made them more likely to support Crowley,” Franklin wrote. “Evers’ job approval with Democrats was also over 85%.”
Crowley will now take on Congressman Tom Tiffany in the Nov. 3 general election.
There were 792,009 voters in the Democratic primary, up from 640,247 in the 2024 Senate primary and 538,857 in the 2018 primary for governor.
“The chaotic changes of candidates, plus the governor’s late endorsement and increasing electability concerns, all made for a surprising endgame to the race,” Franklin wrote.