David Crowley Drops Out of Race for Governor
'It has become clear I will not be the Democratic nominee for governor,' county exec says.
County Executive David Crowley. Photo by Sophie Bolich.
Update: This story has been updated to note that David Crowley has endorsed Sara Rodriguez for governor.
Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley dropped out of the race for governor Wednesday.
“It has become clear that I will not be the Democratic nominee for governor, so today I am stepping out of this race, but I am not stepping away from the work,” Crowley said in a statement. “Politics should not be about who talks the loudest. It’s about showing up, working with anyone who wants to solve the problem, and delivering results people can see in their own communities. That’s how I’ve governed in Milwaukee County, and that’s how I’ll keep governing.”
With just over a month to the primary election, Crowley has consistently trailed front-runners such as state Rep. Francesca Hong and former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes in polling. He’s the second candidate to drop out of the crowded race for the Democratic nomination. In June, Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. Secretary Missy Hughes bowed out and endorsed Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez.
A source close to the Crowley campaign confirmed reporting that Crowley would endorse Rodriguez. On Thursday, the Crowley officially endorsed Rodriguez.
“As Democrats look toward November, I believe this election is too important for us to be divided,” Crowley said in a statement endorsing Rodriguez. “Wisconsin families deserve a governor who can win, govern, and deliver results from Day One.”
Crowley launched his campaign in September last year while serving his second term as Milwaukee County executive. He has held public office since 2017, after his election to the Wisconsin State Assembly. He ran for county executive in 2020 and defeated state Sen. Chris Larson to become the first Black person elected Milwaukee County executive.
Crowley campaigned on his experience as county executive and the only candidate with executive experience in elected office.
“Serving as County Executive is the privilege of my life,” Crowley said. “I will keep showing up for the people of Milwaukee County the same way I have every day since they first put their trust in me.”
Following Crowley’s withdrawal, the remaining candidates on the Democratic side include Hong, Barnes, Rodriguez, State Sen. Kelda Roys and Joel Brennan.
Crowley said the next governor needs to focus on affordability and expanding opportunity for state residents. He also pledged to help whoever the candidate is defeat U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany.
“The most important thing now is for Democrats to come together and defeat Tom Tiffany in November. Tiffany’s record in Washington does not reflect Wisconsin’s values, and the people of this state deserve a governor who will fight for working families, protect our natural resources, invest in our communities, and be beholden to the people of our state, not Donald Trump. While I will not be the candidate, I will still do everything in my power to ensure that we win in November.”
Given that both Crowley and Brennan are based in Milwaukee and have courted the business community here, Crowley’s withdrawal could help Brennan. Barnes might also stand to gain from Crowley’s departure, as a similarly aged Black candidate from Milwaukee with a historical base of support in the city.
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This is very good news. He needs to stay home and concentrate on the county’s problems.
Yep. Good guy, strong future and doing the right things. But there is a lot of work still to be done in MKE CO, and he made the right call by sticking to that job vs having a foot in each area.
Brennan and Roys should do the same, but I don’t see Kelda bowing out (ego).
The only reason Barnes is in the runnning is due to his failed senate bid. We need fresh faces in this race; not failed senate candidates.
i think crowley is smart and a good county executive. i think he would have made a good governor as well. however, i am also glad he’s staying in milwaukee county.
I like David so much, and am really happy to hear that he’s endorsing Sara Rodriguez. I know that the two of them working together – Sara in Madison and David running the county – they would be able to bring back some of the funding that the GOP has wrested away from Milwaukee in the past decade. I hope that others will choose to follow his lead and endorse Sara.
Reading an article from today’s JS how Crowley and Rodriguez didn’t want to attend a forum put forth by the Wisconsin Muslim Civic Alliance and Wisconsin Muslim Civic Foundation after the forum’s moderator sent the event’s questions to the candidates ahead of time.
The problem of course were questions about Gaza and genocide. They couldn’t be bothered with such anti semetic nonsense.
According to the JS article, “All candidates in attendance, including Democrats Mandela Barnes, Francesca Hong, Kelda Roys and Republican Andy Manske, said they believed Israel’s actions in Gaza constitute genocide, according to a livestream of the event”.
Good on them for attending, get bent Sara. I have a hard time believing the grip a certain foreign country has on US politicians.