David Crowley Wins Wisconsin Governor Race, Becomes State's First Black Governor

Democrat David Crowley defeated Republican Tom Tiffany to become Wisconsin's next governor on Tuesday night, November 3, 2026. The Associated Press called the race for Crowley at 10:28 p.m. Central time. Tiffany had conceded in a speech at about 9:46 p.m. Central time. Crowley will be Wisconsin's 47th governor and takes office on January 4, 2027.

Crowley, the Milwaukee County executive, succeeds Democratic Governor Tony Evers. He will be Wisconsin's first Black governor and only the third governor born in Milwaukee. At 40, he will also be the youngest governor in nearly a century, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.

The count

Decision Desk HQ called the race for Crowley earlier in the night. With 64.8 percent of the vote in, Crowley had 54.8 percent and Tiffany 45.2 percent in that snapshot, WisPolitics reported. At the Associated Press call, Crowley stood at 53.6 percent and Tiffany at 46.4 percent.

The AP results feed listed the race as called for Crowley, with 1,307,409 votes for Crowley and 1,144,681 votes for Tiffany, with 88.18 percent of precincts reporting in that snapshot. Late Tuesday, the Journal Sentinel put Crowley's lead at 9 percentage points. USA Today's live election coverage also reported the win on projections by Decision Desk HQ and NBC.

At his campaign event in Milwaukee, Crowley told supporters, as the Journal Sentinel reported: "Wisconsin, this is a very good day. This is a very good day. Because of you, a boy who grew up facing evictions will now live in the governor's residence."

A comeback inside the race

Crowley's path to the nomination was not straight. He dropped out of the Democratic primary about four months ago after failing to gain ground in a seven-candidate field and endorsed Lieutenant Governor Sara Rodriguez. Rodriguez dropped out days later after saying her campaign was out of money. Crowley returned to the race with Governor Evers' endorsement and narrowly defeated Francesca Hong in the primary.

Crowley grew up in Milwaukee's 53206 ZIP code. His family faced multiple evictions as his parents battled substance abuse, and his family's childhood nickname for him was "governor." He became a community organizer, then a state representative, and then Milwaukee's first African American county executive and the youngest person to hold that office. He has served as county executive since he was sworn in on May 4, 2020.

The most expensive race in state history

The two candidates and outside groups spent more than 195 million dollars on the race, the most expensive governor's race in Wisconsin history, according to a WisPolitics analysis cited by the Journal Sentinel. More than 60 percent of that spending went to boosting Tiffany, whose campaign was largely funded by three Republican megadonors.

Crowley's campaign tied Tiffany, a United States representative, to President Donald Trump and criticized Tiffany's reliance on megadonor funding. Tiffany's campaign focused on lowering property taxes and using the state's 3 billion dollar projected budget surplus to enact a 10 percent income tax cut, and criticized Crowley's record on property taxes in Milwaukee County.