David Crowley is set to become Wisconsin's first Black governor after defeating Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany in Tuesday's election, with Tiffany conceding the race before votes were even fully tallied. The Milwaukee County executive's win caps a campaign in which he first had to survive a razor-thin Democratic primary before taking on a Trump-endorsed opponent in the general election.
Tiffany conceded in a speech at about 9:45 p.m. on election night, according to Wisconsin Public Radio, even though the Associated Press had not yet called the race at that point. The outlet reported that all results remained unofficial until certified by elections officials in the coming weeks, a process expected to take several weeks. As TMJ4 News reported, Tiffany had been endorsed by President Donald Trump heading into the contest.
A Tight Primary Paved the Way
Crowley's path to the general election was not a given. Per the same account from Wisconsin Public Radio, he defeated Francesca Hong in the Democratic primary by less than a percentage point, a margin tight enough to have kept the race's outcome in doubt until the final count. TMJ4 News reported that Hong ran in the primary as a democratic socialist, and that Crowley pitched himself as the candidate best positioned to defeat Tiffany in November.
Crowley and his running mate, Sarah Godlewski, are due to take office in January, the station's report notes.
From Milwaukee County to the Governor's Office
Crowley's rise to statewide office builds on a political career rooted in Milwaukee. He was sworn in as Milwaukee County executive on May 4, 2020, becoming, as Wisconsin Public Radio put it, the county's youngest and first Black county executive. He was reelected to a second term in 2024, according to TMJ4 News, and was serving in that role when he launched his gubernatorial bid.
The Milwaukee County Executive's office states that since taking office in May 2020, Crowley led implementation of the county's first county-wide strategic plan in 20 years, though that detail carries lower confidence than the election results themselves. Before becoming county executive, Crowley resigned from the Wisconsin State Assembly on June 18, 2020, per TMJ4 News. He attended Bay View High School and earned a bachelor of science degree in community engagement and education from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, the station reported, and he is a member of the ACLU, the Milwaukee Urban League Young Professionals and the Milwaukee NAACP, and has held a role as chair of the National Association of Counties' Large Urban Counties Caucus.
Part of a Broader Historic Moment
Crowley's victory lands amid what NBC News described as a historic first: multiple elected Black governors serving at the same time in the United States. NBC News reported that five other Black major-party candidates for governor were also on the ballot Tuesday.
Only a handful of Black Americans have ever been elected governor of a U.S. state. The Hill reported that Democrat L. Douglas Wilder became the first in 1989, serving one term in Virginia, followed by Deval Patrick, who was elected governor of Massachusetts in 2007 and served two terms. Wes Moore became Maryland's first Black governor after winning that state's race on Nov. 8, 2022, a victory The Hill noted brought the total number of Black people elected governor to three at the time — and, as the outlet also reported, the country has still never elected a Black woman governor.
