Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley was elected to be Wisconsin’s first Black Governor, with six traditionally Republican suburbs turning blue.
Although he and his supporters were outspent nearly 3-to-1, Democrat Crowley defeated Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, 54% to 46%, an eight-point advantage that is increasingly rare for top-of-the-ticket November races in this closely divided purple state.
It was just the latest in a string of historically improbable victories for Crowley, who had dropped out of the August Democratic primary, then jumped back in and overcame a 31-point polling deficit to win the nomination by half a point. Before that, Crowley was elected as the first Black Milwaukee County executive by the narrowest margin ever in 2020, then won a second term by the widest margin ever in 2024.
Democrats swept all the statewide offices on the ballot and won majorities of both houses of the Legislature, gaining their first trifecta since 2010. They also flipped two U.S. House seats to even the state’s congressional delegation at one senator and four representatives for each major party. However, Republicans prevailed on two of the three constitutional amendments that GOP lawmakers sent to voters.
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Crowley rode a powerful blue wave, as voters punished Republicans nationwide for GOP President Donald Trump’s policies, particularly his erratic tariffs and his unpopular war against Iran, which together have kept consumer prices high while Trump and his fellow billionaires grow ever wealthier. Democrats flipped both houses of Congress and won a majority of U.S. governorships, with stunning victories in numerous Republican strongholds.
In the Milwaukee area, Crowley carried six communities that had long voted for GOP gubernatorial and presidential candidates: Butler, Franklin, Hales Corners, Mequon, Oak Creek and the city of Waukesha.
Continuing the trend of recent years, Crowley carried Milwaukee County and increased the Democratic vote in still-red Waukesha, Ozaukee and Washington counties. Since Trump was first elected in 2016, Republicans have lost ground throughout the suburbs.
Here’s how the vote breaks down:
Milwaukee County: Crowley’s home county turned completely blue as the last three red suburbs fell to Democrats. Franklin, Hales Corners and Oak Creek joined Greendale and Greenfield among the communities that flipped blue during the Trump era.
Overall, Crowley carried the state’s largest county, 76% to 24%; the city of Milwaukee, 85% to 15%; and the Milwaukee County suburbs, 66% to 34%. In each case, he outperformed outgoing Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, former Democratic President Joe Biden and unsuccessful Democratic presidential nominees Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris.
Waukesha County: Butler and the city of Waukesha were the latest Waukesha County communities to flip blue, after Elm Grove voted for Harris in 2024. Tiffany carried the county that was once the state’s leading GOP bastion, 58% to 42%, underperforming Trump, former Republican Gov. Scott Walker and unsuccessful 2022 GOP gubernatorial nominee Tim Michels.
Ozaukee County: Mequon followed Cedarburg, Port Washington and Thiensville in shifting into the Democratic column. Tiffany’s countywide margin of 52% to 48% was narrower than that of previous Republican candidates.
Washington County: Tiffany carried the last entirely red county in the metropolitan area, 67% to 33%, but even there he ran behind other Republicans.
Metro trend: On the strength of the Milwaukee County vote, Crowley carried the four-county area, 59% to 41%, although Tiffany carried the three WOW counties together by the same margin, both reflecting the trend toward Democrats.
All told, Republicans have lost their edge in a dozen area communities in the Trump years. Most of those blue shifts were accompanied by votes for liberal candidates in the officially nonpartisan spring races for state Supreme Court in 2020, 2023, 2025 or this year. However, high court liberals didn’t carry Butler, while Germantown, Grafton and Menomonee Falls backed progressive Justice Chris Taylor in April but stayed red in partisan elections.
As soon as Crowley submits his resignation as county executive, Milwaukee County will start a three-stage succession process, culminating in a special election next year.
Into The History Books
Crowley’s victory makes history in several ways, including:
Diversity: After growing up in a family that struggled with eviction and addiction in Milwaukee’s poorest zip code, Crowley will be one of an unprecedented five Black governors in a country where only three Black men were previously elected to their state’s top job.
Crowley joins Maryland’s Wes Moore, who won a second term, and three other newly elected governors: Georgia’s Keisha Lance Bottoms, the first Black woman governor; Florida’s Byron Daniels, the first Black Republican governor; and Nevada’s Aaron Ford. Moore was preceded by former governors Douglas Wilder of Virginia and Deval Patrick of Massachusetts.
Margin: The last Wisconsin governor to win by a wider margin than Crowley was Republican Tommy Thompson, as he cruised to a fourth term with a 21-point rout of Democrat Ed Garvey in 1998.
Among other major partisan contests in more recent years, Crowley’s margin was exceeded only by former Democratic President Barack Obama’s 14-point Wisconsin win over the GOP’s John McCain in 2008 and Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin’s 11-point trouncing of Republican Leah Vukmir in 2018. By contrast, the 2018 governor’s race, the last two U.S. Senate elections and Wisconsin’s electoral votes in five of the last seven presidential elections were decided by one percentage point or less.
Age: At 40, Crowley will be the youngest incoming Wisconsin governor since 1977, when another Milwaukee Democrat, Marty Schreiber, moved up from lieutenant governor at the age of 38. By contrast, Evers is one of the state’s oldest governors, turning 75 on Nov. 5. Crowley was also the youngest county exec, elected to that office when he was 33.
Continuity: When Crowley succeeds Evers, it will be the first time in state history that their party has held the governor’s office for more than eight consecutive years.
Democratic Victors and GOP Amendments
- Fond du Lac County – Attorney General Josh Kaul won his rematch with Republican District Attorney Eric Toney. If he completes his third term, Kaul would tie fellow Democrat Jim Doyle as Wisconsin’s second-longest-serving chief lawyer, after former Democratic Attorney General Bronson La Follette.
- Statewide – Milwaukee Ald. JoCasta Zamarippa will become the first Hispanic person elected to statewide office, defeating Republican Jay Schroeder to succeed Lt. Gov.-elect Sarah Godlewski as secretary of state.
- Marathon County – County Supervisor Yee Leng Xiong will be the first Asian American elected to statewide office, unseating incumbent GOP State Treasurer John Leiber.
- Constitutional Amendments – At the same time voters were electing diverse candidates; they approved a constitutional amendment to outlaw affirmative action. Republicans pushed the measure as part of their crusade against diversity, equity and inclusion programs, while opponents said the amendment was misleadingly worded as a ban on discrimination, which is already illegal.
Also approved was an amendment to prevent future governors from using their partial veto to increase or authorize increases in taxes or fees. It was the third time that Wisconsin voters have scaled back the veto power, which remains the broadest in the nation.
Voters rejected a third GOP-backed amendment, which would have prohibited state and local governments from closing places of worship in an emergency, even if everything else is shut down. That was a response to pandemic-era restrictions.
Since 2020, voters have approved nine and defeated three of the 12 constitutional amendments that Republicans placed on the ballot in their attempts to circumvent Evers’ veto.
