Crowley Is Already Trying To Rewrite History

 David Crowley has already sent out two fundraising emails after being declared the winner of Tuesday's primary a scant 12 hours ago.  And he's already trying to revise the history of said primary:

Crowley wrote, in part:

And this victory was not inevitable.

Most of the political world had counted us out when we were trailing by double digits in the polls. But just like working people across our state, we didn’t give up.

No, David, ALL of the political world had counted you out when you dropped out of the race because, to paraphrase you, you had no path to winning.

Please don't make the next four years and three months longer than they have to be.

Some Final Pre-Primary Thoughts

We're down to the final hours before Tuesday's primary, and there are a few things that need to be touched on.  For the sake of discussion, I'll consider the race to be between Francesca Hong and David Crowley.  With all due apologies to Kelda Roys and Joel Brennan and their respective supporters, there's been no indication that they have a realistic chance of pulling off more than 10  or 15% combined.

Between Hong and Crowley, it's safe to say that Hong has a huge lead over Crowley, although Crowley is making a big effort, spending all the dark money he can get his hands on in traveling the state instead of doing his job in Milwaukee County and running desperate attack ads against Hong, which only reaffirms the idea that he is trailing in a big way.

I have seen many attacks against Hong, but none of them hold any water. They're nonsense about Hong wanting to cancel Thanksgiving is just that - nonsense. She has clarified her position. Besides, Turkey Day is a national holiday, and it would take an act of Congress to change that.  It's even more ridiculous when one considers Crowley has his own problem with old tweets, which he has continued to lie about.

I've seen Crowley supporters do some concern trolling about Hong's mental health. She's been running one helluva campaign for someone they think is not up to it.  Meanwhile, Crowley is almost in tears when he gets accurately labeled an establishment Democrat and has dropped out of the race once already. That sure doesn't seem very stable to me.

I have seen people complain that the GOP will go after Hong fiercely.  I've got news for them. They are going to go after whoever the nominee is. But the important thing is to remember that the Democratic establishment has already fired everything they had and everything the Republicans had at her, and she has emerged virtually unscathed.  On the other hand, Crowley dropped out at the first mild rebuke over his health care crisis. Crowley hasn't yet faced the fire that Hong has and already failed to stand up to even a fraction of it.

It's pretty obvious which candidate really has the electability problem, and it's not Hong.

Lastly, the Democratic establishment is complaining that right-wing groups are running attack ads against Hong, saying that cutting her down would build her up because they think she would be easier to beat. However, both Scott Walker and Tom Tiffany have come out telling people not to cross-vote for her.  Could it be that they know she really is the tougher candidate and would rather face Quitter Crowley? Sure seems that way.

A Tale Of Two Gubernatorial Races

It was the best of gubernatorial races; it was the worst of gubernatorial races.  

The nice thing about this year's gubernatorial race is that it was really easy to see the bad choices. Heck, they even sometimes took themselves out of the race. And now we have a zombie campaign of a guy who can't decide if he's in or out - or even who he really is.  

But it is also a very difficult choice because we are fortunate enough to have not one, but two, great candidates in Mandela Barnes and Francesca Hong.  They are both wonderfully progressive.  They both have very similar platforms, including making the rich finally pay their fair share of taxes; fully funding schools; universal childcare; making healthcare more affordable; and workers' rights.

There are only a few subtle differences between the two, and that is probably due more to semantics than to actual differences.  Hong is stronger on AI data centers, whereas Barnes is more focused on affordability issues and workers' rights.  

Before I go further, let me state this as clearly as I can: if either Hong or Barnes wins the primary, they will have my full support in the general election. I would be happy and eager to vote for either one. In fact, it would have been ideal if one of them ran for Lt. Governor. That would be the dream ticket of a lifetime.

But who to vote for in the primary?  I've thought about this long and hard, going back and forth between the two of them.  

I have finally decided to cast my ballot for Mandela Barnes.

Let me explain why. The only real difference between the two of them is experience. They are both fearless. They both are strong on their positions and can go toe to toe with Tom Trumpfany.

But the thing is, based on what I've seen, I think Hong will be able to stand her ground. However, I know that Barnes can do it.  Barnes has shown that time and again by standing up to Scott Walker and taking on Ron Johnson, coming within a breath of beating RoJo. Even Ben Wikler said that the DNC dropped the ball by not showing up for Barnes.

Furthermore, Barnes has shown he is unafraid of the establishment. He became a state rep by beating Jason Fields, who was known as Robin Vos's favorite Democrat. He also stepped up and ran against then State Senator Lena Taylor, who had sold out her constituents more times than I can count.  And he's had to deal with attacks from the Democratic establishment during this election cycle, even before he formally announced his campaign.

So, while I am voting for Mandela Barnes in the primary, I am ready to support either of these wonderful people in the general.

You can visit Hong's website here.

You can visit Barnes' website here.

PS: Both candidates are to be commended for running clean campaigns and not sniping at each other, which is more than can be said for the also-rans.

Who Are You Going To Believe - Right Wing Pundits Or Your Lying Eyes?

Tom Tiffany shoveling the BS

Last week, Jessie Opoien of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that Tom Tiffany's campaign advisors had told him not to underestimate Francesca Hong: 

The memo compares Hong to other potential Democratic candidates Tiffany could face in the Nov. 3 general election, viewing her as someone whose nomination "virtually guarantees elevated Democratic enthusiasm and turnout in Dane County and the Milwaukee media market, where statewide races are decided."

In contrast, the memo expects "more moderate and establishment Democratic alternatives would likely produce lower base motivation and depressed turnout."

"Unlike more moderate or establishment Democrats, Hong energizes the progressive base in a way that could drive record Democratic turnout precisely when midterms historically favor the party out of power," the consultants wrote. "Her issues resonate broadly with working- and middle-class voters and have some crossover with our populist positions. Hong could bring some turnout advantages with positions that reach outside Democrats' core base."

All of which jives with what we have seen in Wisconsin and nationally in elections.  There has been a major - as in double digits - shift to the left.  After the SCOWIS election last month, it showed that even the counties that Justice-Elect Chris Taylor lost still shifted to the left.  

Nationally, the trend has been the same. Furthermore, often the winner is the person conventional wisdom said was too radical left to win, such as New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

Apparently, some people have missed these facts.

Right-wing hack James Widgerson jumped on the article, mocking it and trying to claim that the memo was a clever ruse by the Tiffany campaign to trick Opoien, her editors, and thousands of readers into voting for Hong.  

Bruce Murphy, editor of Urban Milwaukee, doubled down on the dumb:

In short, Opoien and the JS got snookered, no doubt promised exclusive access to this disinformation intended to convince Democratic voters, whose number one concern is choosing a candidate with the best chance of defeating Tiffany, that Hong was the one causing sleepless nights for Republicans. The paper was so proud of its scoop that it did two stories on this, the first suggesting Hong’s campaign was on the rise, with the secret GOP memo as a key exhibit, and the second entitled “What a leaked GOP memo says about the candidacy of Francesca Hong.”

If the memo was a trick from Tiffany's campaign, it backfired badly.

Keep in mind, Tiffany is the GOP's fourth-string candidate. In early 2025, WISGOP was desperately trying to recruit its favorite carpetbaggers, Tim Michels and Eric Hovde, to return to Wisconsin to run.  They were so persistent that Hovde felt it necessary to make a video telling them he wasn't running. Things were too nice in Laguna Beach. 

In the 2025 Republican state convention, Washington County Executive Josh Schoemann beat Tiffany in a straw poll.  However, to be fair, Tiffany was still waiting for Fearless Leader Trump to give him permission to run.  Schoemann didn't drop out of the race until Trump endorsed Tiffany.  

The fact that Tiffany has squarely hitched his campaign to Trump, and Trump is polling worse than any president in history - See, he's number one at something! - It's no wonder that the Republicans are experiencing a severe enthusiasm gap. 

On the other hand, Hong's supporters are not showing any lack of enthusiasm whatsoever. The Tiffany memo - real or fake - is only going to add fuel to Hong's fire, which is something Tiffany doesn't need, but so richly deserves.

Tom Tiffany Is Running In The Wrong State

 After Tuesday's election, when Justice-elect Chris Taylor and the Democrats shellacked the Republicans, Tom Tiffany made a brief statement about it and what it means for his campaign to be governor:

Well, we got our butts kicked last night, right? There's no doubt about it, and we should acknowledge that. But the election we have coming up this fall, in November, is a new election. And you guys know as well as anyone, every election is unique. And I have built a campaign - money, manpower, and messaging. We're going to compete on all fronts.

While Tiffany is trying to convince himself that the fall election is separate and apart from all other elections, the fact is that one has to look at the trends. And those trends are not in Tiffany's favor.  As this graphic shows, almost the entire state took a hard shift to the left:

While Republican denialists might try to argue that this election was not in some part a refutation of Trump, it obviously was.  And November's election is going to be even more of a referendum on the Orange Menace. And given how far Tiffany has his nose up Trump's rump, I don't see him changing these directions in just a few months.

A breakdown of Taylor's victory on Tuesday by congressional district shows that Tiffany would have been hard-pressed to win reelection in his own district. Keep in mind that the congressional maps are still gerrymandered to favor the Republicans.  

Barring some drastic unforeseen changes, this November could be just as much fun as yesterday was. However, it does not mean that we can take our collective foot off the gas by any stretch of the imagination. It's still going to take a lot of hard work to get across the finish line, but it's very doable.

It doesn't hurt that Tiffany is apparently running to be the governor of the state of denial.

Maria Lazar Is More Radical Than Even Rebecca Bradley

Wisconsin Watch took a unique approach to the race for the Wisconsin Supreme Court. They asked both the Chris Taylor campaign and the Maria Lazar campaign to select a case that showcases their strengths and their opponent's weaknesses.

Interestingly, they both chose the same case - a voting rights case on whether voters had to completely fill out their address, including city, state, and zip code.  Taylor ruled with the voters, pointing out that the law did not require them to include all of that information.

Each campaign explained why they chose this case:

A spokesperson for Taylor’s campaign said the case demonstrates how Taylor protected Democratic rights and “fairly” and “impartially” applies the law. 

“This decision balanced protecting each Wisconsinite’s right to vote with establishing a fair, uniform procedure for our local clerks,” Taylor campaign spokesman Sam Roecker said. “As indicative of the strength of this decision, no party involved in the case appealed Judge Taylor’s decision.” 

Lazar’s campaign said Taylor failed to consider the intent of the Legislature. 

“Judge Taylor’s opinion, on the merits, indicates how far an activist judge who legislates from the bench will go to alter procedures for election integrity,” Lazar campaign spokesman Nathan Conrad said of the witness address case. “Every common sense citizen in Wisconsin knows that an address consists of a street name, number and municipality.” 

The explanation from the Lazar campaign reminded me of something that shows Lazar is unfit to be on the bench, especially not the Supreme Court. 

Seven years ago, the Wisconsin Supreme Court heard a case in which the decision came down to intent versus how the law is written. The Court ruled that intent was irrelevant and the law had to be followed as written. That decision was written by Rebecca Bradley, whose seat is up for grabs in April:

"The county urges the court to interpret 'not covered by the terms of a collective bargaining agreement' to mean 'not represented by a union,'" Rebecca Bradley wrote for the majority. "Because we must apply the plain meaning of the ordinance's text rather than rewrite it to reflect what the county may have intended, we reject the county's request and affirm the Court of Appeals."

In summary, what the legislature might have intended is irrelevant. The thing that matters is how the law is written.  Taylor was correct and followed the law. Lazar wanted to alter the meaning of the law to meet her agenda.  

We don't need anyone more radical and fascist than even Bradley on the bench. 

Mandela Barnes Enters Gubernatorial Race, Both Parties Panic

 Four months and six candidates after Governor Tony Evers announced that he would not run for reelection, former Lt. Governor Mandela Barnes entered the race to be Wisconsin's next governor and became the instant frontrunner.  He kicked off his campaign with this introductory video:

Barnes is charismatic, is a good friend of Labor, and has decent name recognition, which is probably the reason for his frontrunner status.  But that is not to say he is going to have clear sailing to the governor's mansion.

His entrance into the race has set the Republicans into a foaming-at-the-mouth panic.  Tom Tiffany, who is the frontrunner for the Republican Party, has been blowing his racist dog whistle until he's blue in the face.  But then again, that seems to be Tiffany's only plank in his campaign.

But Republican opposition is to be expected.

What is really disappointing and disconcerting is the whisper campaign among Democrats that started long before Barnes even announced.  They cite Barnes' loss to Ron Johnson in 2022.  They acknowledge that Barnes came within one percentage point, about 26,000 votes.

But what they don't dare mention is that while RoJo had billionaires like Diane Hendricks and Richard and Elizabeth Uihlein.  What they also don't mention is that neither the DNC nor the DPW came through for Barnes.

Given that information, it's obvious that Barnes did pretty damn good to get as close as he did with no help and against nearly insurmountable odds. 

The fact that someone would start this kind of crap only tells me that they don't have a lot of faith in their candidate. And if they don't have faith in their candidate to win in the primary, odds are he wouldn't do well in the general election either.

Draft Ironstache For Congress - It's Time To Bring The Hammer Down!

By now, I hope that the amazing feat we accomplished last week by electing Susan Crawford to the Wisconsin Supreme Court has startled to settle in.  Despite President Elmo's money, and despite The Felonious Kumquat's corruption, we made it clear that this is still our state and fascists are not welcome!

The one thing we cannot afford to do is sit on our backsides.  Next year is going to be another big election and it would be best if we go into it with all hands on deck, running at full speed.

With that in mind, I am still very excited at the thought that Judge Chris Taylor is considering a run against Bitter Becky Bradley for the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

Likewise, Rebecca Cooke has already hit her mid-election season stride in her run against Drunken Van Orden in Wisconsin's Third Congressional District.  She's already raised over one million dollars and gained two major endorsements in just her first few weeks.

But what about Wisconsin's First Congressional District?  Who's going to take on Lyin' Bryan Steil?  

It should be someone who has instant name recognition.  It should be someone who can hit the ground running and quickly raise money and get the big endorsements.  It should be someone that the people will stand with because they stand with the people.  It should be someone who is not afraid to roll up their sleeves and get their hands dirty.  

It should be someone who has the chops - and the stache - to retire and replace Lyin' Bryan Steil.

That person is Randy "Ironstache" Bryce. 

I've known Randy for well over a decade and will vouch for him in all regards.

Randy is an Army veteran.  He is a father. He is a loving son.  He is a labor leader of the highest caliber, and along with that, has one helluva work ethic.

Randy supports public schools. He supports women's right to reproductive health care. He understands the importance of Social Security and Medicare and that it is our money, not for the government to give even more tax breaks to the wealthy.  And, of course, he understands the importance of labor and supports workers right to organize and unionize.  Hell, his last campaign was unionized!

I asked you before to help me draft Randy for Congress, and you came through.  And Randy heard us, which led to the Lyin' Ryan running with his tail between his legs.

But now it's time for Randy to finish the job.  It's time for him to pick up his sledgehammer and hammer away at the deathgrip the Republicans have put on the First District and to replace Lyin' Ryan's clone, Lyin' Bryan Steil.

Will you help me?  Will you let Randy hear you ask him to step up one more time?  You can do that simply by giving a holler out on the Draft Randy Bryce for Congress Facebook page, or tell Randy at @Ironstache on Xitter.  Or just reply to this here blog.  I'll make sure that Stache gets the message.  

Randy is a good man, a good friend, and a man I am proud to call my brother.  I hope you'll join me in saying:

Lets Have A Supreme Trifecta!

 

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that Bitter Becky Bradley is planning on running for reelection in the spring of 2026.  Naturally, she did it with her natural vitriol and overall unpleasantness:

Bradley, a member of the court's conservative minority, told Wispolitics.com she is running to “ensure that there is a voice for the constitution and for the rule of law to preserve that in the state of Wisconsin.”

“I’m concerned for what an extremely radical court is going to do over the next three years, and I will be spending the next several weeks assessing what happened on Tuesday and figuring out a path to achieving a court that is not led by and dominated by the radical left, that gets back to deciding cases under the law and respecting the constitution,” Bradley told WisPolitics.

The gentle reader should not be surprised by her lack of professionalism. She didn't have any to begin with and never had to learn that skill due to her "work history."

In her college days at Marquette University, she wrote about how she despises queers, degenerate drug addicts and people with HIV.  She also penned a couple of articles arguing for a total ban on abortions and was even against birth control.

After college, she went on to become president of the local chapter of Federalists and other fascists.  Then, after a number of donations to then Governor Scott Walker, he appointed her to Children's Court just in time for her to call herself the incumbent in the upcoming election.

Walker then politically appointed her in quick succession to the Supreme Court in 2015. She won election in 2016, due to a large flow of dark money from the WMC.  

Bradley's bitterness continued with such fun things like comparing saving people's lives during a pandemic to tyranny and to forcing the Japanese into internment camps, which earned her a good rebuke from George Takei.

However, there is good news, too.  The Journal Sentinel also reported that Judge Chris Taylor, the former state representative, is considering a run against Bitter Becky:

State appeals judge Chris Taylor, a former Democratic state lawmaker, told the Journal Sentinel on Saturday she is considering running for the seat.

If Taylor does choose to run, she will probably do quite well.  Before she became a very popular representative, she was president of Planned Parenthood.  With women's reproductive health care playing a big part in the last two elections for SCOWIS, there's no reason to believe it won't be again next year.