Greetings all. Sending along the recording of my live discussion from earlier today with David Crowley, our candidate for Governor in Wisconsin. I will admit I didn’t know much about David before these past few weeks but as you will see he’s an impressive candidate. The strength of his candidacy, after a challenging primary, is giving us an excellent shot at keeping the Governor’s mansion and flipping two state legislative chambers in this critical battleground state this November.
David is currently the County Executive of the largest and most diverse county in Wisconsin. From our discussion:
In Milwaukee County, I've had the ability to balance the budget every single year for the past six years. As County Executive, we've lowered our unsheltered homeless population down to being one of the lowest in the entire country. We've lowered overdose deaths by 40% in just four years. We've created the largest property tax cut in our county's history — and we want to continue to do that across this state. When I think about the contrast of what I'm up against — we have a MAGA-extreme agenda, a congressman who's voted 100% of the time with Donald Trump. I’m going to continue working to keep putting working families on the menu versus giving them a seat at the table — I'm excited to bring these successes to the state. But we know we can't take anything for granted; we have to make sure we’re leaving no stone unturned.
He leads in all early polls taken since the primary, including in a GOP funded poll (via the NYT):
One of the things we discuss is that his opponent, Rep. Tom Tiffany, a fire breathing MAGA Member of the US House, has voted for the war, for the tariffs, and for the barbaric cuts to our health care - giving David and his campaign so much to work with. In recent days David has really leaned into Trump’s escalating trade war with Canada, something that is going to weaken small business and farmers, raise costs for all residents of Wisconsin and make it far harder for Tiffany to win:
Last week Hopium launched a new Winning Wisconsin campaign to help David get elected and flip the two state legislative chambers, getting us what we call in politics a “trifecta” - control of Governorship and two state legislative chambers. Ben Wikler and others have been working to free the good people of Wisconsin from some of the most extreme and illiberal Republicans in the country for many, many years now. We here at Hopium have worked to flip two Wisconsin Supreme Court seats and invested heavily in our state legislative wins there in 2024. We’ve poured a lot of money and sweat equity into Wisconsin these past three and a half years. Now we need to finish the job of this deeply strategic effort and elect David Crowley Governor and flip the Wisconsin House and Senate this November!
A contribution to Winning Wisconsin is split evenly between David and the WI Dem Party. Donate to this vital campaign here:
And for more catch our recent interview with Dem Chair Devin Remiker who walks us through the grand strategy to get us this trifecta and restore democracy to Wisconsin this November:
Here’s a bit more from David on why getting to a trifecta is so important:
I remember my time in the state legislature for the past 15, almost 20 years. Democrats have not been in control. Governor Tony Evers — he’s been the steady, calm strength we've needed for the past eight years, but he's only been able to be on the defense. If we want to win, we have to get on offense. Nobody can be on the sidelines, especially if you know we have to defeat this MAGA-extreme agenda, and Tom Tiffany especially, here in Wisconsin.
So the opportunity we have is, one, getting rid of a lot of these bad Republican-era policies still in place, bringing collective bargaining back to the table, and making sure we have fair maps, so that when the tide rises, all the boats can rise here in Wisconsin. It's extremely important that people understand that all of the policies we're talking about in this gubernatorial campaign — they don’t become a reality unless we also have a state legislature willing to go to bat and earn a seat at the table to make it happen. I'm excited to be working with both [Assembly Democratic Leader] Greta [Neubauer] and [Senate Democratic Leader] Dianne [Hesselbein] and their caucuses to get that trifecta. Because when that blue wave comes across we're going to wash all these Republicans away.
Friends, please consider supporting this great candidate and our Winning Wisconsin campaign today. We have a really important opportunity to do something deeply meaningful in one of our most critical battleground states this November, and we just need to seize it, together! - Simon
From CrowleyForWI.com:
Like many Wisconsinites, David Crowley wasn’t fed by a silver spoon.
His father worked as an electrician and his mother worked in the service industry, while both battled addiction and mental health struggles. David never knew if he would come home from school to find his family's belongings on the curb due to another eviction, food in the kitchen, or the heat and lights still on. He learned early that hard work alone isn't always enough. That when systems fail, families feel it first.
Those lessons carried into his first elected office as a State Representative, where he fought for housing, criminal justice reform, and reproductive freedom. And now, in his second term as Milwaukee County Executive, David has proven that strong, results-driven leadership can bridge divides, delivering for one-sixth of the state's entire population and building a record that no other candidate in this race can match.
Whether it is Milwaukee or Muskego, Algoma or Ashwaubenon families face the same pressures. David understands these challenges not just as policy issues, but as lived experiences. As a husband and father, he sees how these pressures play out at home. He and his wife, Ericka, are raising three daughters in Milwaukee, which keeps him focused on what policy really means at the kitchen table, not just in Madison.
David’s lived experience is not just his backstory.
It is how he governs. He will do whatever it takes to make sure children and families are safe, healthy, and able to thrive. Every child, every resident, every family deserves a Wisconsin full of opportunity.
Because at the end of the day, David Crowley knows what it feels like when the basics are out of reach — and what it looks like when a community finally gets what it needs. That is the governor he will be for every Wisconsinite.
