On the menu today: This morning is going to offer up a bit more red meat than usual, as two weeks from tomorrow, Wisconsin Democrats will go to the polls and select their nominee for governor. The GOP nominee is all but certain to be Representative Tom Tiffany. With incumbent Democratic Governor Tony Evers deciding not to seek a third term, this is the first open governor’s race in Wisconsin since 2010. Here’s your classic swing state — Wisconsin been decided by less than a percentage point in each of the last three presidential elections — serving up a big test of the seemingly rising Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). Sure, the DSA can clean up in primaries in deep blue House districts, but that’s low-hanging fruit. Can a socialist candidate compete statewide? Read on.
Choose Carefully, Wisconsin
As Alice Cooper taught Wayne, Garth, and the rest of us, Milwaukee is the only major American city to have elected three socialist mayors. There was a time, nearly a century ago, when the Socialist Party of America was a major force in the state’s politics. So, it’s not surprising that today’s Democratic Socialists of America would look at America’s Dairyland as one of their best shots at attaining real power at the state level.
But the DSA’s favorite candidate, 37-year-old State Representative Francesca Hong, will have to win in a crowded primary first.
On July 8, it appeared that crowded field would narrow a bit, as Milwaukee County executive David Crowley announced he was withdrawing from the race. As Wisconsin Public Radio described it:
In spite of a boost in ad spending and a slate of prominent endorsements, Crowley never achieved much traction in the polls.
Crowley also faced criticism early this year when the Milwaukee County benefits director let lapse a health insurance contract that covered more than 5,000 county workers. That director was fired, but some county officials said Crowley didn’t take enough accountability for the failure.
After withdrawing from the race, Crowley endorsed Lieutenant Governor Sara Rodriguez.
“I’ve said all along that the next governor’s job description is simple: make this state affordable, make sure care shows up for families before a crisis hits, and build real opportunity that runs from the classroom to a good-paying job,” Crowley said. “That was the mission of my campaign, and it’s exactly what Sara Rodriguez has spent her career doing.
That was July 9. Eight days later, Rodriguez withdrew from the race.
It’s odd to see a lieutenant governor end a gubernatorial bid in mid-July, and even more odd to when the candidate declares it is because her campaign is missing hundreds of thousands of dollars because her campaign’s finance manager lied to her and state authorities. And yet, that’s just how the campaign of Rodriguez came to a crashing end:
Democratic candidate for governor Sara Rodriguez said she has “hundreds of thousands of dollars” less in her campaign account than she previously believed due to “serious mismanagement and inaccuracies” by the campaign manager she fired Sunday. . . .
The lieutenant governor, one of five Democrats competing in the gubernatorial primary, declined to share specific numbers because, she said, the campaign is still reconciling its books. She attributed the discrepancies in her account to a combination of double-counting contributions and not recording some of the campaign’s expenses.
Rodriguez said she noticed the problems when her campaign’s promised million-dollar ad buy failed to materialize. It’s hard to argue that you will be a vigilant watchdog of the public’s money when you haven’t been a vigilant watchdog of your own campaign’s money.
(This morning, the New York Times euphemistically says Rodriguez withdrew after “discovering campaign finance problems.” Accurate, but putting it mildly.)
Since the Minnesota fraud scandals — which predate Tim Walz becoming the Democratic vice-presidential nominee — Republicans have argued that fraud is a serious and worsening factor in government spending programs, while Democrats have largely, but not entirely, argued that while fraud exists, Republicans are exaggerating the scope and severity.
Democrats, are you paying attention now? With Rodriguez, the fraud is coming from inside the campaign!
After the Rodriguez campaign ended, Crowley reentered the campaign and picked up the endorsement of Governor Tony Evers. Of course, he’s the same guy who had concluded, three weeks ago, “It has become clear that I will not be the Democratic nominee for governor.”
Crowley will take on a remaining Democratic field containing former Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes, State Senator Kelda Roys of Madison, former head of the state Department of Administration Joel Brennan, and the DSA candidate Hong.
Barnes served four years as lieutenant governor and narrowly lost the 2022 Senate race to Ron Johnson. He proved just vulnerable enough in that race; he’s a “defund the police” ally who spent $600,000 in taxpayer funds on his personal security detail. He argues illegal immigrants should “have access to drivers licenses and in-state college tuition.” He objects to the U.S.–Mexico border being “militarized.” On taxes, he argues, “We need to make sure everyone — especially the powerful and the privileged — pay their fair share of taxes. As we all know, the top federal tax rate on the wealthiest was 70 percent a few decades ago.” (The current top rate is 37 percent, so Barnes’s envisioned ideal would nearly double the rate.)
You might say that with positions like these, Barnes seems like a standard-issue Democratic Party man, but he’s more than that. He’s also a lingerie party man, who joked that his party would amount to a “stimulus package.” Barnes subsequently said the theme of the party was “immature.”
Then there’s State Senator Kelda Roys, who recently featured in a campaign ad where she is nearly hit by an ambulance, as she says, “Healthcare should be a right, but the system is broken. Republicans like Trump broke it so that insurance companies could profit more. It’s almost like they’re trying to kill us.” A few years back, Roys garnered attention by breastfeeding in her campaign ad. The dramatic ads don’t appear to have made much of an impact; polling puts Roys in the single digits.
You could joke that Joel Brennan is the token white guy in a Democratic primary, but Brennan himself said back in May, “I don’t think we’re there yet,” when it came to electing a non-white, non-male candidate. Wisconsin has elected just three non-white candidates to statewide office in its history.
Five days ago, Brennan debuted an ad that was a standard issue description of his opponents’ weaknesses: “She’s a proud socialist. He lost statewide before. A couple weeks ago, he dropped out. Madison insiders want you to think these are the only choices you have for governor. But they’ll all lose to Republicans in November. You get to decide who’s the Democrat who can win.” (Note that Brennan, who served in the governor’s cabinet, argues he’s running against “Madison insiders.”)
Brennan’s ad, in the eyes of certain Wisconsin Democrats, is racist:
In a statement issued Wednesday, the Democratic Party of Wisconsin Black Caucus called the ad released this week “disappointing.”
“As Governor, it will be your responsibility to understand the impact your actions have on Wisconsinites and learn from them,” the statement reads. “It’s extremely disappointing that Joel Brennan released an ad saying none of the candidates of color running for governor could win in November following previous comments in May on this issue. We hope the feedback he’s receiving will readjust campaign messaging to undo this harm and demonstrate that any Wisconsinite, regardless of background, can be elected governor of our state.”
Like Roys, most polling has Brennan in single digits.
Then there’s Hong, the current frontrunner, who would become the first-ever socialist governor in American history if she wins in November.
She appeared on Hasan Piker’s podcast — background on him here — and declared she supports abolishing ICE, creating public (meaning government run) grocery stores, “a free Palestine,” and creating “a Scott Walker statue that people can go to, that are made by local artisans and craftsmen that people can slap up if they want to.” (If Wisconsin socialists want to spend time slapping a Scott Walker statue and breaking bones in their hands, I see room for bipartisan compromise.)
You may recall this newsletter noting earlier this month that Capital One was asking Hong, quite literally, what was in her wallet, and why it hadn’t been used to pay down the $29,344 debt she had accumulated since 2011. Much like with Rodriguez, it is hard to argue you will be a careful steward of the public’s finances when you are not a careful steward of your own finances.
In another interview on MS NOW, Hong also said, “I think that when folks hear socialism, they may be taken a back, but I bring it back to potholes and the Packers and public education.”
You might be wondering how the Green Bay Packers can be cited as an example of socialism. Hong isn’t alone in this argument; a little while back, Jacobin magazine contended, “The Green Bay Packers are the only socialist team in the NFL.”
The Green Bay Packers are indeed an institution with publicly traded shares. But there are nearly 4,000 U.S. companies with publicly traded shares, and no one in their right mind would call them socialist.
The next argument would be that the Packers are different because they are legally classified as a not-for-profit corporation. But that’s mostly a legal categorization; the corporation still aims to have more money coming in than money going out, and when they report a loss, they need to find new sources of revenue:
The Green Bay Packers reported their first operating loss in a non-pandemic year since the 1990 fiscal year, and CEO/President Ed Policy acknowledged the franchise must find new ways to generate revenue to keep pace with the rest of the NFL. . . .
In terms of operating costs, the Packers reported $753 million in revenues but $754.1 million in expenses. Revenues increased 4.7 percent, but expenses jumped 18.7 percent.
The day-to-day operations of the Packers are not all that different from any other NFL team. The team is run by a president and chairman of the board, Ed Policy. Policy was unanimously selected for that position by the Packers’ board of directors; members of the team’s board of directors are elected by the shareholders.
But the fact that the institution is, legally, classified as not-for-profit does not mean that it is not extremely profitable for many of its employees. This year, quarterback Jordan Love has a guaranteed salary of $49.9 million dollars. The lowest-paid players on the team will make $885,000. This is “from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs,” as Marx put it? For a supposedly socialist institution, the Packers look awfully capitalist.
Right now, you would probably say that Hong is the candidate most likely to win the gubernatorial nomination. She doesn’t need 50 percent to win the nomination; there are no runoffs in Wisconsin. Rodriguez and another withdrawn candidate, Missy Hughes, will still appear on the ballot, likely further diluting the non-Hong vote.
And then Hong will take on GOP Representative Tiffany, with $3 million in cash on hand as of the end of June, ready to ask Wisconsin voters if they want to make history as the first state with a socialist governor.
ADDENDA: In case you missed it over the weekend, Dr. Anthony Fauci wrote in his diary on January 26, 2020, that when it came to the origin point of the Covid-19 pandemic, “Now we know the market was not the source, it was the amplifier.” All those intense public arguments about wet markets and bats and pangolins — and all that research I did here, month after month — was moot, because Fauci knew, but did not want to tell the public, that the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan was not the source of the virus.
. . . Are you a “mid-career professional” — don’t worry, they define that broadly — in the Dallas area, smart and conservative, but want to learn more about classic conservative thought with others like you? NRI’s Burke to Buckley Fellowship Program is a seven-session masterclass in conservative thought. Each week, you’ll read original sources, share a meal, and engage in robust conversation with leading conservative thinkers and National Review writers. Applications are now open for the Dallas cohort taking place this fall. Apply by August 1 to be considered!