Wisconsin Democrats Exuberant, Ride Historic Blue Wave Into Power

Governor-elect David Crowley and Lt. Gov.-elect Sarah Godlewski. Photo taken Nov. 3, 2026 by Graham Kilmer.

Democrats celebrated a historic victory Tuesday.

Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley became governor-elect Crowley, winning over Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany to become the first Black governor in the state’s history. Democrats won pivotal legislative races across the state and flipped both houses of the state Legislature, securing the vaunted trifecta they had worked these many months to achieve.

Wisconsin politics being what they are, in a state that has swung back and forth in recent elections and with late-night counts of absentee ballots in cities like Milwaukee often shaping their outcome, Democrats were expecting a late night.

But not long after polls closed, early numbers showed Crowley poised to win the election, and shortly after 9 p.m. word began going out that he would soon take the stage and declare victory. Tiffany publicly conceded the race not long after. Democrats up and down the ballot and across the nation were winning, and by substantial margins.

At the Crowley election night party at Landmark Credit Union Live, Democrats were ebullient. The room was filled with supporters and Wisconsin Democratic politicians, and county department heads and officials from the Crowley administration. DJ Shawna was spinning records and the crowd danced and mingled waiting for Crowley to appear and declare victory. When he did, he delivered a heartfelt speech, thanking his wife and family first and his campaign staff and the city of Milwaukee. He promised to govern as a leader for all of Wisconsin, even the voters who marked their ballots for Tiffany, and to usher in an era of change in state government focused on delivering results for working families. Supporters in the crowd pressing toward the stage shouted in celebration, “My governor is Black.”

“I think it changes things entirely for us to have somebody who understands the challenges in the largest city in the state, where roughly one in 10 Wisconsinites live,” Mayor Cavalier Johnson told Urban Milwaukee. “It puts us in a position where you’ve got a governor that understands the challenges that Milwaukee Public Schools have faced over the last number of years. A governor that understands the challenges of shared revenue… that understands the challenges of gun violence.”

With Crowley and the Democratic trifecta, new political possibilities may be opening up for Milwaukee, Johnson said, in the form of increased state shared revenue, additional mass transit aid and investments in public infrastructure. “I want to fix the roads more than anybody else. I’ve got $800 million of deferred maintenance on our streets,” the mayor said.

Not since Martin Schreiber in the late 1970s had a Milwaukee Democrat been governor. But Schreiber was not elected; rather as lieutenant governor he succeeded Gov. Patrick Lucey in 1977.

Former Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett ran twice for governor. He was enjoying the Democratic reverie taking over the music venue when he told Urban Milwaukee, “I assume that people five years ago would have said the chances of a Democrat from Milwaukee winning the governor’s race are about as great as the Brewers winning the World Series, and they both happened in the same week. So it tells you things change, and David’s going to be a great governor.”

When Crowley is sworn in on January 4, Milwaukee County Board Chairwoman Marcelia Nicholson-Bovell will become interim county executive for up to 30 days, at which time she will appoint a county executive. She told Urban Milwaukee she will run for the office in a special election that will likely be held in April during the spring election cycle, that the election revealed an electorate hungry for leaders to make their lives better and she is “excited to get to work.”

With their new trifecta, state Rep. Kalan Haywood II, assistant minority leader in the Assembly, said the first challenge the state Legislature needs to take on is affordability. Across the political spectrum, this is the issue voters care about the most right now, he said. “What they talk about is affordability, housing, health care, gas prices.”

Senate Minority Leader Dianne Hesselbein and Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer took the stage shortly before 11 p.m. to declare Democratic victory in both chambers of the state Legislature. Both are expected to be elevated to majority leaders.

“We will hold Big Tech accountable, protect our rights and freedoms, and make Wisconsin a state where everyone can thrive,” Neubauer said. “We will show that government can be a force for good in people’s lives, and that things will be different when Democrats are in charge.”

In races across Wisconsin and across the country, Democrats saw a repudiation of President Donald Trump, who implored Americans to vote like his name was on the ballot.

Ben Wikler, former chair of the Wisconsin Democrats, said the results were “an affirmation that Wisconsin and the United States of America can do better than the MAGA nightmare, that we can actually choose to be a democracy that works for everyone.”

Wisconsin U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan, who will return to Washington, D.C., with a new Democratic majority in the House of Representatives, said Democrats have an opportunity to take action immediately to show voters they are taking seriously their concerns about the influence of money in politics. A congressional stock trading ban without loopholes is one place to start, he said.

“I think people are tired of the corruption in Washington. Now we have to show that we’re serious about reforming how we operate.”