Socialist fever breaks: Takeaways from Crowley's win

Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley narrowly defeated socialist Francesca Hong by about 3,000 votes, dealing a blow to the progressive left's momentum Tuesday in Wisconsin's Democratic primary for governor, after his own polling indicated he was behind by nearly 20 points.

Why it matters: Crowley's win could breathe new life into a center-left that had been losing primary after primary in recent months, from last week's Senate contest in Michigan to House races across the country.

Yes, but: The day wasn't a total loss for progressives.

• In the day's other big ideological showdown between Democrats, Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, a progressive, defeated moderate Rep. Angie Craig in Minnesota's Senate primary by 20 points.
• Flanagan will face GOP nominee Michele Tafoya, a former NFL TV reporter, in November.
• Democrats also nominated progressive Matt Little to replace Craig in Congress.

Results from other closely watched races Tuesday:

• In South Carolina, Trump-endorsed Sen. Darline Graham, who replaced her brother Lindsey Graham after his death last month, advanced to an Aug. 25 GOP runoff against Rep. Ralph Norman for a full six-year term.
• Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar easily won the Democratic primary for governor and will face state House Speaker Lisa Demuth, who defeated Trump-endorsed Mike Lindell for the GOP nomination.
• Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.), 78, a 14-term incumbent, lost to former Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin, 47, who called for generational change. Larson is the seventh House Democrat and 10th House member ousted in a primary this year.

Zoom in: Wisconsin Democrats now have to unite after the party establishment's successful last-minute scramble to stop Francesca Hong, a socialist who captured the support of many young people and activists.

• Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers endorsed Crowley as a panic broke out among many in the party that Hong could doom their chances in the fall.
• Some Democratic voters Axios talked to were ticked off at the move. "I mean, is he trying to sabotage us?" former state party official Marga Krumins said of Evers' warning that Hong likely couldn't defeat Tiffany.
• Crowley explicitly campaigned on the idea that Hong was a liability in the general election, telling Axios, "People don't like socialists" and "socialists didn't poll very good."
• Hong's past social media posts, including calls to "cancel Thanksgiving" and defund the police, dominated her campaign's final week.

More takeaways from Wisconsin:

1. Wisconsin's November election will be historic. The GOP's nominee, Rep. Tom Tiffany, would be the first person who voted to overturn the 2020 presidential results to become governor of a top swing state if he won. And Crowley would be the first Black governor in Wisconsin history.
2. Tiffany is trying to soften his rough edges, branding himself as a "girl dad" who grew up "milking cows on a Wisconsin dairy farm." He's campaigning with former Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin. But now that Crowley has won, Republicans have an opponent they appear to have feared: A GOP group spent millions on ads propping up Hong, suggesting they viewed her as the weaker candidate.
3. Tiffany could help unite Democrats. The way some progressive Democrats see it, they might have wanted Hong, but they can't risk Tiffany being governor in the 2028 presidential race given his efforts to overturn the 2020 election and his false claims there had been "hundreds of thousands of illegal votes" in Wisconsin.
4. Hong fell short as her controversial posts surfaced and progressive leaders gave her the cold shoulder. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez declined to endorse her. And as we followed her on the campaign trail, voters clearly had electability on their minds: She was asked at stop after stop about her former comments and how she would defeat Tiffany in the fall.