Holiday-hating Francesca Hong loses to moderate David Crowley in Wisconsin gubernatorial primary

Wisconsin Democrats had a choice between a democratic socialist who made headlines for griping about Christmas and a Milwaukee County executive who at least sounds like he's run something before. They picked the guy who's run something before. That tells you a little about where the actual voters in that party are, even if the loudest voices online are somewhere else entirely.

Francesca Hong built her brand on the kind of politics that plays great in a state legislature district in Madison and terribly almost everywhere else in Wisconsin. Complaining about a holiday most people in this country still celebrate without irony is not a message, it's a tell. It says a candidate is more interested in performing for a narrow slice of the base than actually talking to the electricians and dairy farmers and small business owners who decide statewide races here.

David Crowley isn't some conservative dream candidate, let's not pretend otherwise. He's a Democrat, he'll govern like one, and we'll have plenty to fight him on if he makes it to the general. But his win is a small, useful data point. Even in a Democratic primary, in a state Democrats desperately want to hold, the socialist-adjacent lane lost. Voters in Milwaukee and beyond wanted someone who sounded like a manager, not a movement.

Take the win where you can find it. A weaker version of the far left just got beaten in its own house, by its own voters, without Republicans lifting a finger. That's worth noting even as the real fight waits for November.