Crowley Was Weakest in Democratic Governor Debate

County Executive David Crowley. File photo by Sophie Bolich.

You could argue that Gerron Jordan and Matt Smith, the broadcasters who moderated the candidate debate on WISN 12 last night, missed the boat on what this governor’s campaign was about. As Marquette Law School polls have consistently shown, the foremost concerns of the voters are inflation and the cost of living, immigration and health insurance. But there were no questions about this.

That said, this was a five-candidate debate and it’s pretty difficult in just one hour to tease out differences between the candidates, and the moderators did a pretty good job of this. They started out going after each candidate’s weakness and grilled State Rep. Francesca Hong, the socialist and leading Democrat in the race, on her past support for abolishing the police and calling the killing of Corey Ruiz “an execution” and “state sanctioned violence.” Hong had difficulty handling this other than to say the “governor can’t defund the police.” It’s an issue that will be a Republican attack should she win the primary and she still hasn’t quite figured out how to handle it. Hong suggested that she would not have made the comments before an investigation as a governor, but shouldn’t she be similarly responsible as a legislator?

Another weak point came when she was asked if she feared that a higher income tax on millionaires could lead to them fleeing the state, and she looked like a deer in the headlights, saying “I’m confused by that” and “that’s a hypothetical.”

That said, Hong may have smiled more than any of the other candidates and had an engaging physical presence, which is pretty important in a visual medium like television. And she offers the most clarity in her views, favoring a “government that puts working-class people first.”

In contrast to this, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley and Greater Milwaukee Committee CEO Joel Brennan, who have the most executive experience, seemed to be looking to operate as the adults in the room. Crowley is the only candidate who favored the failed budget surplus bill backed by Republican legislative leaders and Gov. Tony Evers, and had his strongest moment defending it. “I loved the fact that we were going to give relief to our schools and property tax relief, and there are other things in this bill that I didn’t like. At the end of the day, we know that there are many Wisconsin families who are desperate. We should be focusing on how we lift them up and not playing politics.”

But no candidate spoke less than Crowley, and his effort to offer more moderate views on school vouchers, higher taxes on millionaires and other issues didn’t come through very strongly.

By contrast, Brennan repeatedly offered memorably nuanced answers.

On his campaign: “The challenge that I have had from day one is not that anybody thinks I’m unqualified. The challenge I have had is that people don’t know me as well as they know some other candidates,” he said, noting that half of the electorate is still undecided.

On school vouchers: Brennan emphasized his support for public education but warned that a bill to end school vouchers in Milwaukee will never pass the Legislature. “There are representatives in Milwaukee… for whom more than half the people who live there are sending their kids to private schools. We have to live in the real world.”

And on taxing the rich: Brennan said millionaires “should pay a little bit more,” but cautioned that could drive wealthy individuals out of Wisconsin if it’s Democrats’ only focus. “If it’s just going to be penalties, then we are going to start to lose,” said Brennan. “We need to make sure we’re growing with everybody.” And he was the only one to call for ending the manufacturing and agriculture tax credit, which is a giveaway to the rich and would gain some $400 million per year in revenue.

Yet if Brennan made a strong case for his insider experience as a former head of the state Department of Administration, it’s far from clear that this is what today’s angry voters are seeking.

State Sen. Kelda Roys was consistently knowledgeable and passionate in her answers, but unlike Brennan had trouble explaining what she offers that other candidates ahead of her don’t. She is dead last (along with Brennan) in the polls and couldn’t offer any reason to think that will change.

Probably no candidate spoke more than Mandela Barnes, and he did a good job of explaining his loss in 2022 in the race for U.S. Senate, noting the tiny margin he lost by was the same margin that he and Tony Evers won by in 2018 as lieutenant governor and governor. As for being passed over when Evers endorsed Crowley, Barnes said, “I have zero interest in being the establishment candidate… I am pushing the envelope to make sure that we are as bold as we can possibly be in the Donald Trump era, because that’s what people have been calling for Democrats to be all along.”

Barnes was consistently articulate, yet there was an undercurrent of frustration in his comments that made him seem the least friendly of the five candidates. “I want you to know that the establishment is trying to rig this election,” he warned viewers. “They want you to choose between their preferred candidate [a reference to Crowley] and also Republican billionaires are lining up to the tune of three and a half million dollars to choose a Democratic nominee in this race,” a reference to the sneaky Republican ad that seems to attack Hong but tells us she is a liberal who opposes ICE and repeatedly quotes her saying she wants to bring Wisconsin “back to our progressive roots.”

No ad in the Democratic primary has run more than this. It ran just before the debate and right after it on Channel 12, and it has helped drive Hong’s support from about 22% a month ago to 44% in a poll by State Navigate released yesterday and to 38% in a new poll released today by Marquette Law School. With less than two weeks left in the election, that ad may decide who wins the primary.