MADISON, Wis. — Early in-person voting got underway Tuesday in Wisconsin’s turbulent Democratic primary for governor, as a democratic socialist candidate works to overcome the preferred choice of the outgoing governor in a crowded and unsettled field.
Wisconsin Democrats are aiming to hold onto the governor’s office while also flipping both chambers of the state Legislature — a combination that would give the party full control of state government for the first time since 2010. However, the party has struggled to unite behind a single candidate for governor, raising concerns among Democrats that a divided primary could cost them in the November general election.
The five candidates competing for the Democratic nomination are set to face off in their one and only debate Tuesday evening, just weeks before the August 11 primary.
Democratic socialist Francesca Hong has built a strong following among the party’s most progressive voters. Meanwhile, former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes — who came close to winning a U.S. Senate seat in 2022 — is counting on support from voters in his hometown of Milwaukee to help him edge out Hong, whose strength lies in Madison. Those two cities are home to the largest concentrations of Democratic voters in the state.
Also competing is Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, who is running with the backing of Gov. Tony Evers. Crowley’s path to the race has been anything but straightforward — he withdrew from the contest on July 8, only to rejoin on July 17, the day after Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez stepped aside following a campaign finance scandal.
Both Crowley and Barnes are seeking to make history as Wisconsin’s first Black governor.
Whoever wins the Democratic primary will face Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany in the fall. Tiffany is running with the support of President Donald Trump — who carried Wisconsin in both 2016 and 2024 — and faces little opposition in his own primary.
Adding to the drama, a judge was set to hear arguments Tuesday — just hours after early voting began — in a Democratic lawsuit asking that voters who already submitted mail-in ballots be allowed to cancel them and vote again. As of Monday, more than 100,000 ballots had already been returned by mail.
The lawsuit, filed last week with backing from the Wisconsin Democratic Party, seeks a court order allowing the rarely used process known as ballot spoiling. Democrats say the measure is needed because Rodriguez and former state economic director Missy Hughes both dropped out of the race after tens of thousands of voters had already mailed in their ballots — and because Crowley re-entered the race during that same window.
The names of both Hughes and Rodriguez remain printed on the ballot.
In-person absentee voting, which began Tuesday, continues through August 9. All absentee ballots must be received by the time polls close on election day, August 11, to be counted.
