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The Aug. 11 partisan primary has come to an end. David Crowley pulled off a remarkable comeback victory to win the Democratic nomination.

But there’s much more going on, to learn from, to analyze, to break down, as we reflect on the results of this discombobulating Democratic primary.

We’ve livestreamed, we’ve podcasted, we’ve covered the news, we’ve taken photos, video, and posted all over.

Now, it’s time — as per tradition here at the Recombobulation Area — to really dive in.

These are our 12 takeaways from the primary. Let’s recombobulate.

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Note: This piece is really like 12 columns in one. It will be available in full now for paid subscribers, with more to come for free subscribers in the coming days. But if you want the full column now, support our work and subscribe.

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1. Crowley’s campaign rises from the ashes

David Crowley’s campaign was over. The July 8 press release didn’t say he “suspended” his campaign — it said “David Crowley Ends Campaign For Governor.”

Thirty-five days later, Crowley formally accepted the Democratic nomination for governor, capping a remarkable comeback for the 40-year-old from Milwaukee.

The location — the Sherman Phoenix on Milwaukee’s north side — felt like a not-so-subtle metaphor: the Sherman Phoenix is a Milwaukee story of resilience, of rising again in the face of adversity.

Crowley’s campaign rose from the ashes, too. His July 18 relaunch event at 3rd Street Market Hall kick-started a 25-day mad dash to Election Day — a Hail Mary, a wild, audacious gambit.

But it worked.

Crowley proved to be the man for the moment. Had he campaigned this way for the first nine months of the race instead of just the final three-and-a-half-weeks, he might not have needed the comeback at all. But maybe it had to happen exactly this way.

That was certainly true down the stretch. He needed Tony Evers’ endorsement. He needed the field to shrink. He needed to raise a whole lot of money. He needed to catch a favorable news cycle. He needed to see early-vote numbers come in disproportionately low (since, you know, he’d been out of the race for a while). He needed Joel Brennan’s number to land on the low end, needed to stay close in Dane County, and needed nearly pretty much all the undecided voters to break his way.

That all happened.

It’s a remarkable turnaround for someone who, at the very beginning, I wrote was the candidate with the highest upside in the race. I still thought in June, when I wrote that his campaign was a “huge disappointment” and needed “a wake-up call.” I suppose there’s no bigger wake-up call than coming back after literally ending your campaign.

But wake up he did. His campaign relaunch event went exceptionally well; the energy in the room was palpable. And even though his name was not in this particular poll, the breadcrumbs leading to this path to victory were there in the July 22 Marquette poll — I wrote “there’s a non-zero chance this could actually work.” The odds were against him, but he pulled it off, doing just enough to win by an extraordinarily close, less than 1% margin. It was impossible, then it was improbable, then it happened.

Beyond the rising-phoenix symbolism, the words Crowley spoke at that 9 a.m. event — surrounded by exhausted staff, supporters, and political media running on just a few hours of sleep — are worth listening to, particularly his closing remarks:

“Because what we do, it isn’t just about winning elections. It’s about improving the lives of our neighbors. Because we know the most patriotic thing that we can do as Wisconsinites, as Americans, is to see those who disagree with us as human beings — deserving the same rights and the same opportunities as everyone else.

Instead of fearing those we cannot understand, and letting that fear divide us, patriotism is going to work to see the humanity in all of our neighbors. It is our work that puts our future generations first and prioritizes progress for all of us.

So today, we begin a new chapter. Today, we get back to work. We’ll knock on more doors. We’ll have more conversations. We’ll welcome Democrats, Republicans, independents, and every Wisconsinite who believes in democracy, who believes in opportunity, in moving our entire state forward.

Together, we will build the broad coalition that this moment absolutely demands. Together, we will reject division. Together, we will reject extremism. Together, we will make history and write the next chapter of Wisconsin’s story — one built on opportunity, compassion, hard work, and hope. And together, we will defeat Tom Tiffany.”

This is a message that can win in November. Crowley pulled off the impossible in the primary and now has about 80 days to win the general. It won’t be easy — this is Wisconsin, after all — but neither was winning a primary five weeks after declaring the campaign over. Crowley could go from failed, sidelined candidate to the state’s next governor.

2. Do not underestimate Tony Evers

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After a discombobulating primary election night, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley is now the Democratic nominee for governor.

And while we knew this was coming — she was uncontested in her run, after all — Secretary of State Sarah Godlewski is now the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor.

Godlewski is off on the Democratic Party of Wisconsin’s “Unity Tour,” which started with a breakfast-turned-brunch in Madison on Wednesday. She joined us from the road, just before the tour’s Thursday morning event in Oshkosh, and shared a few stories of that breakfast, and, in particular, an exchange with State Rep. Francesca Hong.

“When I got to the “Unity Brunch,” the first person that I saw was Fran,” said Godlewski. “And I gave her the biggest bear hug because I was just…I’m so proud of her. I mean, she came from an underdog position — nobody thought she would ever get this far; they were writing her off before she even started — and she just put her head down and went to work. She wasn’t lobbing any ugly statements at people, she just put her head down and talked about what she was going to do for the people of Wisconsin — and it’s why she built a coalition of 7,000 (volunteers). That’s more than what we’ve seen in a presidential primary. It was incredible.”

Godlewski also talked about being on the ticket with David Crowley, reacted to the chaos of the last few weeks, talked about what her role on the campaign is going to be, the efforts to elect Democrats up and down the ballot, and much more.

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For a beat-by-beat breakdown, check out our topics and timestamps below:

• 00:00 – Introduction: primary election recap, David Crowley wins Democratic nod for governor, Godlewski’s unopposed run for lieutenant governor nomination

• 02:49 – Wednesday morning: confirming Crowley, first call, and “who’d play him in a movie” joke

• 05:02 – The Unity Brunch and genuine unity among former rivals

• 05:32 – Reconnecting with Francesca Hong: her underdog campaign and their friendship

• 08:20 – Bringing Hong’s coalition and supporters into the fold

• 09:46 – What resonated in Hong’s campaign that Crowley could adopt

• 11:36 – Godlewski’s role on the campaign for the next ~83 days, including reproductive freedom

• 13:33 – Reaching Western Wisconsin swing voters (the key issue: healthcare)

• 16:00 – Tom Tiffany’s week: Trump alignment and the “MAGA extremism” pamphlet

• 18:25 – Godlewski’s role as Wisconsin Dem Party vice chair

• 20:04 – Building unity across the party, flipping legislative seats, the path to a Democratic trifecta

• 21:43 – Closing thoughts: the Unity Tour ice cream tradition and sign-off

Watch this episode on The Recombobulation Area’s YouTube Channel here:

Find our episodes on The Recombobulation Area’s podcast feed, available on Spotify (embedded below), Apple Podcasts (available here), and right here on Substack.

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Dan Shafer is an independent journalist from Milwaukee who writes and publishes The Recombobulation Area. He worked with Civic Media from 2024 to 2026. He’s written for The New York Times, The Daily Beast, Heartland Signal, Belt Magazine, WisPolitics, and Milwaukee Record. He previously worked at Seattle Magazine, Seattle Business Magazine, the Milwaukee Business Journal, Milwaukee Magazine, and BizTimes Milwaukee. He’s won 24 Milwaukee Press Club Excellence in Journalism Awards. He’s on Twitter at @DanRShafer.

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The Aug. 11 partisan primary is now in our rear view mirror, David Crowley won by a less than 1% margin over Francesca Hong, and your friends at the Wisconsin Politics Group Chat are here to make sense of all of the results and much more.

This week’s episode featured Pat Kreitlow of UpNorthNews, Kate Duffy of Motherhood for Good, and Dan Shafer of The Recombobulation Area.

Dr. Kristin Lyerly was unable to join this week, but you can hear many of her thoughts on the results from our extended, unhinged Election Night livestream that stretched into the wee hours of Wednesday morning.

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This episode aired live on Pat Kreitlow’s UpNorth YouTube Channel on Thursday, Aug. 13, at 9 a.m.

For a beat-by-beat breakdown, check out our topics and timestamps below:

• 00:00:00: Intro, housekeeping, old Up North News Newsletter & Question of the Week

• 00:04:32: Kate Duffy joins from the Iowa State Fair

• 00:05:43: Show Kickoff — “I’m Getting Too Old For This Shit”

• 00:06:18: Recapping the Epic Election-Night Livestream and David Crowley’s remarkable victory

• 00:07:00: Post-Primary & the Unity Breakfast-Turned-Brunch

• 00:20:43: Crediting Tony Evers’ all-in Endorsement of Crowley

• 00:23:13: John Johnson’s Milwaukee County vote map & the “Yard Sign” Theory

• 00:26:08: Crowley’s Challenge Beyond Milwaukee — Northwestern Wisconsin

• 00:27:09: Deep Dive: Act 12 & the Shared Revenue Overhaul, and messaging to counter Tiffany’s attacks

• 00:31:39: Selling Crowley’s record without losing “Normies”

• 00:32:21: Data Centers — Local Control vs. Governor’s Role

• 00:33:27: Crowley’s Personal Story: Growing Up in Poverty

• 00:35:03: Door-Knocking Tales — “Communist” accusations in rural communities

• 00:37:10: Winning over Hong Supporters on data centers and “establishment” politics

• 00:38:35: The Voucher Schools Debate

• 00:43:10: Crowley the “consensus builder” vs. Evers’ legislative style

• 00:44:30: Tom Tiffany’s Trump dodge — “The Orange Elephant in the Room” —and his weak healthcare “transparency” messaging

• 00:47:53: 7th District: Michael Alfonso, the Sean Duffy son-in-law

• 00:51:12 3rd District: Van Orden vs. Rebecca Cooke II

• 00:52:14: Will supporters of candidates who lost in the primary stay home in November?

• 00:54:57: The Giannis Analogy — “No Failure, Only Steps to Success”

• 00:56:43: Tammy Baldwin’s “Never Mistake Progress for Victory”

• 00:58:46: Closing Roundup: Van Orden’s AI Slop, Election Denialism, No Break Ahead

• 01:00:56: Kreitlow’s Music History Segment, sign-off and show plugs

Watch this and every episode of the “Wisconsin Politics Group Chat” on The Recombobulation Area’s YouTube Channel here:

You can find every episode of the “Wisconsin Politics Group Chat” on The Recombobulation Area’s podcast feed, available on Spotify (embedded below), Apple Podcasts (available here), and right here on Substack.

Revisit our unhinged, three-hour Election Night livestream here:

In case you’ve missed a previous episode of the Wisconsin Politics Group Chat, you can find them all here.

Dan Shafer is an independent journalist from Milwaukee who writes and publishes The Recombobulation Area. He worked with Civic Media from 2024 to 2026. He’s written for The New York Times, The Daily Beast, Heartland Signal, Belt Magazine, WisPolitics, and Milwaukee Record. He previously worked at Seattle Magazine, Seattle Business Magazine, the Milwaukee Business Journal, Milwaukee Magazine, and BizTimes Milwaukee. He’s won 24 Milwaukee Press Club Excellence in Journalism Awards. He’s on Twitter at @DanRShafer.

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Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley has completed a remarkable comeback to win the Democratic primary in the race for governor.

After an especially chaotic evening of election results, Crowley leads State Rep. Francesca Hong by a less than 1% margin. The results are unofficial, but the race has been called by Decision Desk HQ, VoteHub, CBS 58 and others.

Marquette University researcher John Johnson, who joined The Recombobulation Area as part of an Election Night livestream, also called the race for Crowley.

“Crowley’s success in consolidating support while Hong’s campaign struggled in the national spotlight is a striking reminder that campaigns DO matter,” he said. “In the end, Hong’s vote share just about matched her support as measured by the polls in the closing weeks of the race, but Crowley managed to consolidate the opposition, all in just one month since reentering the race.”

Crowley wins with a plurality of votes, at just under 40%, ahead of Hong by mere decimal points. State Sen. Kelda Roys came in third with about 7.5%, followed by Joel Brennan, the former Department of Administration secretary, with about 4.7%. Candidates who dropped out early but still received votes included Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez, who received about 4.1%, former lieutenant governor Mandela Barnes a few hundred votes less, and former WEDC CEO Missy Hughes, with less than 1%.

In a statement released at 2:30 a.m., Crowley’s campaign manager, Garren Randolph, declared victory, saying:

“David Crowley is grateful to Wisconsin voters, the volunteers who powered this campaign, and everyone who stepped forward to participate in this primary.

“To Francesca, Kelda, Joel, and every candidate who shared their vision for Wisconsin, thank you. They challenged all of us to think bigger about what our state can become.

“From day one, this campaign has been about what comes next for Wisconsin: making life more affordable, strengthening our schools, creating good-paying jobs, and making sure opportunity reaches every corner of our state.

“Now, David is focused on bringing people together, earning the support of Democrats, Republicans, Independents, and anyone who believes Wisconsin is at its best when we work together and deliver results.

“The choice in November has always been clear. We can move Wisconsin forward with leadership focused on solving problems, or we can bring the division and extremism of Tom Tiffany and Donald Trump to Wisconsin.

“David is ready to get back to work, build a broad coalition, and win in November.”

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The victory caps a stunning turnaround for a candidate who dropped out of the race on July 8. He endorsed Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez the following day, but Rodriguez’s campaign had problems of its own, announcing on July 12 that they were firing their campaign manager over a major campaign finance crisis, resulting in Rodriguez dropping out of the race on July 17.

Crowley officially rejoined the race in an event on July 18 at 3rd Street Market Hall in Milwaukee. The Recombobulation Area was there for the event.

When he re-launched his campaign, he did so with the endorsement of Gov. Tony Evers, who spent the final stretch of the campaign on the road with Crowley. On the eve of the election, Crowley and Evers held a rally at The Cooperage in Milwaukee.

“I know in my heart of hearts that David Crowley is the best chance we have of beating Tom Tiffany,” Evers said in his remarks.

See a thread here with our live coverage from the event.

There were a whole lot of twists and turns as Election Night unfolded, and we were there for you through all of it, here at The Recombobulation Area. of Motherhood for Good and joined for an extended livestream reacting to the results — a stream that lasted more than three hours.

Watch the full livestream here.

That was actually the second livestream we had this evening, the first running for roughly 35 minutes, beginning at 9 p.m., also joined by John Johnson.

Watch the incredible 3+ hour livestream here.

Stick with us for much more coverage of these stunning results in the days to come, here at The Recombobulation Area.

Dan Shafer is an independent journalist from Milwaukee who writes and publishes The Recombobulation Area. He worked with Civic Media from 2024 to 2026. He’s written for The New York Times, The Daily Beast, Heartland Signal, Belt Magazine, WisPolitics, and Milwaukee Record. He previously worked at Seattle Magazine, Seattle Business Magazine, the Milwaukee Business Journal, Milwaukee Magazine, and BizTimes Milwaukee. He’s won 24 Milwaukee Press Club Excellence in Journalism Awards. He’s on Twitter at @DanRShafer.

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It’s all come down to this, folks. Today is the day the voters will choose the nominee for the Democratic Party for Wisconsin’s 2026 gubernatorial election.

This year’s fall election could be the most consequential contest Wisconsin has seen in quite some time. It is the first open race for governor since 2010, and the Democrats’ first realistic opportunity at a trifecta — control of the state Senate, Assembly, and governorship — in a generation.

The Gerrymander has fallen. The Wisconsin Supreme Court is firmly in liberal control, a 5-2 majority following the landslide victory from Justice-elect Chris Taylor — who will have her investiture ceremony later this week — in April of this year. The opportunity is there for Democrats in Wisconsin to hold the governor’s office, flip the legislature, and finally start playing some offense and begin to transform this state for the better.

As always, it will be the voters who point the way forward. So, be sure to do your civic duty and GO VOTE.

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Important Election Day reminder: Wisconsin has same-day voter registration.

So, if you haven’t registered or need to re-register, you can do so at your polling place (with ID and proof of residence) TODAY.

Every state should do this. It’s great that Wisconsin does this. If you have people in your life who are unsure if they can or should vote, remind them of this.

Election Night LIVE at The Recombobulation Area!

As results roll in this evening, we will be hosting an Election Night results livestream here at The Recombobulation Area.

This will begin at 9 p.m. and will feature data and analysis from of Marquette University and reaction and conversation with of Motherhood for Good (and potentially others, too).

Find the livestream here.

We recommend that you register to join so you’ll be automatically reminded when the livestream begins.

You can also find this available on the Substack app.

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The nature of this livestream may evolve based on how the night unfolds. We don’t want to be presumptive about anything that might occur, so we’re just going to be sticking to the facts as we have them.

Polls will close at 8 p.m., we’ll be gathering information over the following hour, and then we will be going LIVE at 9 p.m.

We plan to host a top-of-the-hour update at 9 p.m. for at least 15 minutes.

Depending on the nature of the results, that could evolve into a broader discussion, or it could mean we need to take a break to go crunch the numbers and learn more about where things are headed, and return at 10 p.m. for a longer conversation.

You will be able to ask questions during the stream if you have a Substack account. Priority will be given to paid subscribers, of course.

But rest assured, we will be there covering these results live — and doing our very best to stay as recombobulated as possible, as we have throughout this especially discombobulating primary.

One thing we know we’ll be watching as it pertains to the results — traditional count vs. central count municipalities.

According to the Wisconsin Elections Commission, there are 44 municipalities in Wisconsin that are currently authorized to use central count to process absentee ballots. That means these municipalities will be reporting the results from absentee ballots all at once.

The largest of these municipalities is, of course, Milwaukee. Before the 2024 election, I put together a 10-minute audio segment at Civic Media explaining how this works, as it has long been a source of misinformation and conspiracy theories regarding the election.

See that post here:

Or go right to the audio segment here.

As always, Milwaukee’s absentee ballot results could certainly become a major factor in this race if it looks to be an especially close race.

So, what does this central count business mean for understanding tonight’s results? It will mean that these 44 municipalities will be the ones to look to later in the night for results, while the more traditional count municipalities will be the ones to look to earlier in the evening.

If the past is any predictor of this, cities like Waukesha and La Crosse might be among the early results, but those can vary from election to election, so we won’t really know until we get there.

And while the results of the Democratic primary in the race for governor will undoubtedly be the headline of the evening, we will also be taking a look at results from congressional primaries and downballot races.

If you missed it, you can see our overview of those races here.

We hope you join us to recombobulate later this evening.

Now, once again: Go vote.

Dan Shafer is an independent journalist from Milwaukee who writes and publishes The Recombobulation Area. He worked with Civic Media from 2024 to 2026. He’s written for The New York Times, The Daily Beast, Heartland Signal, Belt Magazine, WisPolitics, and Milwaukee Record. He previously worked at Seattle Magazine, Seattle Business Magazine, the Milwaukee Business Journal, Milwaukee Magazine, and BizTimes Milwaukee. He’s won 24 Milwaukee Press Club Excellence in Journalism Awards. He’s on Twitter at @DanRShafer.

Subscribe to The Recombobulation newsletter here and follow us on Facebook and Instagram at @ therecombobulationarea.

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As Wisconsin’s Democratic primary has entered the national consciousness in recent weeks, the typical actors in the punditry have attempted to shoehorn this race into the endless progressive-centrist battle that’s roiled the blue team since the Hillary Clinton-Bernie Sanders primary a decade ago.

For wildcard-turned-frontrunner Francesca Hong, the state representative from Madison, she’s been the proxy for the progressive and Democratic socialist wing of the party, with Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, the closest challenger, as the de facto representative of the center-left.

But covering this race closely and knowing these candidates well, I do not think Francesca Hong is a typical progressive movement candidate, nor do I think David Crowley is a typical “establishment” candidate. That’s what makes Wisconsin’s Democratic primary so fascinating.

Take your proxy fights elsewhere, national media. They don’t quite fit here.

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Election Day for Wisconsin’s partisan primary is Aug. 11, where voters will decide the Democratic nominee in the first open race for governor since 2010.

Here at The Recombobulation Area, we have offered coverage of this race in a variety of ways — commentary, news coverage, scoops, podcasts, interviews, in-depth poll analysis, a longform feature story, entirely too many tweets and posts on social media, even moderating a candidate forum.

While I’ve surely had a whole lot to say about this race, I am not here to tell you who to vote for, and will not be making an endorsement. What has been our goal here at The Recombobulation Area is to give you — our loyal readers and listeners and viewers and subscribers — coverage of the race that you will find nowhere else, in a way that’s fair, honest, unsparing, illuminating, and, above all, real and authentic with a voice and perspective.

Part of the way I look at this is the way I think about another entirely different topic, but one I’m also very passionate about (as longtime twitter followers well know) — the NBA.

In the NBA, some coverage focuses on the analytics. For others, it’s the eye test, or the X’s and O’s. Or, maybe the coverage focuses not on the court, but on the high-level machinations behind the decisions being made behind the scenes that impacts what happens once the games get started. Sometimes, it can be about a big breaking news story that stirs up the league. Or, it can be about spending extra time learning about something that had emerged as a major development, or getting to better know a particular individual or team for a profile or feature story. Sometimes, it’s about being in the room for the big events. Perhaps, too, it can just be about having a little fun and getting together with friends and colleagues to talk to people about what you’re seeing.

But really, it’s all of the above. That’s part of the approach I wanted to take in writing about and podcasting about and thinking endlessly about this race — and doing so from right here in Wisconsin. There’s no one way to understand what’s happening. This requires different approaches, different perspectives, different ways of looking at this. I hope you have been able to learn more about these candidates, this campaign, the issues that matter, and the big picture concepts that go beyond the daily news cycle.

At the end of the day, this race is and has always been about the voters. The people of Wisconsin. They are the ones who are going to determine the future of our great state.

Because 2026 presents as a fork-in-the-road moment for the state of Wisconsin.

This is the first open race for governor in 16 years. This is the first state legislative election to be held in full since toppling The Gerrymander. This is the first realistic chance for a Democratic trifecta — control of the Senate, Assembly, and the governorship — in a generation. This election will determine whether Democrats have the opportunity to deliver on on health care, child care, public education, local government funding, raising the minimum wage, gun violence prevention, reproductive rights, environmental conservation, union rights, and protecting the fundamentals of democracy that makes all of these policy debates even possible in the first place. Without winning the governor’s race, none of it happens. Without winning control of the legislature, it’s more of the divided government we’ve seen for the past eight years.

This is it, folks. This is the big one.

And being the most closely contested swing state means that what happens here on Tuesday will reverberate around the country. This is the bellwether. We are the canary in the coal mine. The “as goes Wisconsin” of it all is inescapable. Because this is a fraught moment for our nation, a moment of deciding the future the Democratic Party, here in the state and across the nation.

But it is the voters who will always be the ones to point the way forward, and show us where the wind is blowing. We have done our best here to follow that wind, and see where this is going to take us, but this next part is up to you.

So, before we all go cast our votes on Tuesday — and you all decide our future — let’s take a look back at our coverage of this race here at The Recombobulation Area, spanning the last year, and all of the highlights and chaos and twists and turns along the way.

Let’s recombobulate.

Candidate interviews

We had the opportunity to interview the four candidates remaining in the race. Listen to or watch each of these conversations here. All are available as YouTube videos or audio podcasts, and are available in full with no paywall at the links below.

Joel Brennan (June 24)

Kelda Roys (July 13)

Francesca Hong (July 21)

David Crowley (Aug. 4)

Main Street Governor Candidate Forum

On January 21 at The Cooperage in Milwaukee, The Recombobulation Area joined Main Street Action to host the first candidate forum of the 2026 campaign. The event was streamed live by Civic Media, moderated by Dan Shafer. Watch it here, and see photos from Civic Media’s Jennie Brand.

Columns and commentary

Over the last year, I have written several extended columns on the race for governor. Starting in August 2025 with my “too-early breakdown” to a widely read “state of the race” piece in June, we have offered incisive, ahead-of-the-curve commentary like you’ll find no where else in Wisconsin media.

See our short list of highlights, listed chronologically below.

News coverage

From on-the-scene reporting to timely scoops to insider news, The Recombobulation Area has been there to cover some of the biggest news in the race.

Special Feature Story

In late April and early May, we spent some time with Francesca Hong and her campaign for a special feature story on what was becoming the buzziest candidacy in the race, as Hong was on the rise from wildcard longshot to genuine contender — and now could very well become the nominee.

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Poll analysis

Since we launched in 2019, I have written an in-depth breakdown of just about every new edition of the Marquette University Law School Poll. Along with analysis of those surveys, we also covered polls from at key moments of the campaign.

Podcasts

Over the last few months, we’ve been doing more and more podcasting (as you may have noticed). Of course, many of those have focused on the gubernatorial campaign.

Wisconsin Politics Group Chat

Beginning shortly after the Democratic Party of Wisconsin’s annual convention in mid-June, several media personalities and content creators in left-of-center media started getting together for what we’ve called the “Wisconsin Politics Group Chat.” These episodes have included of UpNorthNews, , and of Motherhood for Good.

These episodes have coincided with the silly season of the campaign, and you can revisit all of them here.

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You can find all of our podcasts on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and right here on Substack.

More podcasts!

With guests and contributors including Emily Mills, Greg Bach and Angela Lang. Plus: Appearances on “City Cast Madison” and the “PN Pod” with Aaron Rupar.

The Wisconsin Democratic Primary Ranked-Choice Voting Experiment

In early July, we wanted to take a look at how this race might work if it were happening under a different voting system. So, we invited you to participate in this project. With the help of John Johnson of Marquette University, we were able to dive into the results and break this all down — even as it happened at a particularly chaotic moment of the campaign, with candidates coming in and out of the race over the course of this experiment.

You’ll be able to find more of our coverage of the election and the results in the coming days — including live coverage on Election Night.

Subscribe to join us.

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PLUS: Don’t forget to go BEYOND THE GOVERNOR’S RACE with our guide to every statewide, congressional and state legislative primary on the ballot in Wisconsin next week. Every election is more than just the top of the ticket.

You always — ALWAYS — need to pay attention to what’s happening downballot.

Dan Shafer is an independent journalist from Milwaukee who writes and publishes The Recombobulation Area. He worked with Civic Media from 2024 to 2026. He’s written for The New York Times, The Daily Beast, Heartland Signal, Belt Magazine, WisPolitics, and Milwaukee Record. He previously worked at Seattle Magazine, Seattle Business Magazine, the Milwaukee Business Journal, Milwaukee Magazine, and BizTimes Milwaukee. He’s won 24 Milwaukee Press Club Excellence in Journalism Awards. He’s on Twitter at @DanRShafer.

Subscribe to The Recombobulation newsletter here and follow us on Facebook and Instagram at @ therecombobulationarea.

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Part of a group who might want to subscribe together? Get a group subscription for 30% off!

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has released a new poll on the Democratic primary for Wisconsin governor, the first significant polling since former lieutenant governor Mandela Barnes dropped out of the race. The poll again shows State Rep. Francesca Hong with a significant lead, with 44%, well ahead of the next closest candidate — Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley at 22%.

After Hong and Crowley, State Sen. Kelda Roys polled at 11% and Joel Brennan, the former Department of Administration secretary, polled at 5%.

The poll was conducted from Monday, Aug. 3, to Thursday, Aug. 6, and included 1,473 likely Democratic primary voters, and has a margin of error of 2.3%. State Navigate released the poll in a livestream on Aug. 7 (beginning at about 4:30, topline results at 6:45).

The big takeaway here is that Francesca Hong maintained a sizable lead over the rest of the field, despite some negative news cycles that had some Wisconsin Democrats worried.

Both Crowley and Roys grew their numbers from the prior poll from July 28, each up 7%, but are still well behind the frontrunner. This is probably behind where Crowley needed to be to be in position to catch Hong, and while this is probably the best poll yet for Roys, but neither are close.

The poll also showed that 22% of the ballot is already in, and of those, a not-insignificant vote share is going to candidates who dropped out — 13% to Barnes and 10% to Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez.

Chaz Nuttycombe, executive director of State Navigate, also surveyed hypothetical matchups if candidates lower in the polls were to drop out.

As we’ve seen in poll after poll in this race, Hong continues to maintain especially strong support among younger voters. The poll showed her with 79% of the vote in the 18-29 age group and 68% in the 30-44 age group.

I also took a look at a few other crosstabs relating to the field in Milwaukee, the WOW counties, and the BOW counties.

See more from the poll here, see State Navigate’s extensive briefing here, and take a look at the crosstabs and see what you might find for yourself here.

Oh, and one more thing…

This isn’t data from the State Navigate poll, but rather the Marquette poll, but it pertains to Gov. Tony Evers — who has obviously become a factor in the campaign, backing Crowley.

Tony Evers has often been referred to as the most popular politician in Wisconsin.

That's largely been true in data from the Marquette poll. Maybe 1 and 1A with Tammy Baldwin, but Evers is typically a bit ahead. The most recent survey of his approval rating showed it up to a net +6.

But that same poll also showed his "Strongly Approve" number at the lowest of his eight years in office, at just 19%.

That's the first time his "Strongly Approve" number is below 20% dating back to 2019. At the same time, his "Somewhat Approve" number is also the highest it's been in eight years, at 33%.

In October 2024, he was at 30% "Strongly Approve" and 21% "Somewhat Approve" with a similar overall net approval rating (+7).

The majority of Wisconsinites may still approve of the job Tony Evers is doing. But there are signs the strength of that approval has waned in recent years.

Perhaps that's been a factor in this primary, too.

PLUS: Go BEYOND THE GOVERNOR'S RACE with our overview of every statewide, congressional and state legislative primary:

Dan Shafer is a journalist from Milwaukee who writes and publishes The Recombobulation Area. He worked with Civic Media from 2024 to 2026. He’s written for The New York Times, The Daily Beast, Heartland Signal, Belt Magazine, WisPolitics, and Milwaukee Record. He previously worked at Seattle Magazine, Seattle Business Magazine, the Milwaukee Business Journal, Milwaukee Magazine, and BizTimes Milwaukee. He’s won 24 Milwaukee Press Club Excellence in Journalism Awards. He’s on Twitter at @DanRShafer.

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We are just days away from Election Day for Wisconsin’s wild Democratic gubernatorial primary.

To offer a bigger picture perspective on the state of the race — and much more in Wisconsin’s discombobulating politics — Dan Shafer joined of Public Notice to recombobulate on this chaotic primary season on the PN Pod.

Along with the primary, we also talked about Ron Johnson, Derrick Van Orden, Sean Duffy, Tom Tiffany, and all the Wisconsin Republicans who end up in Rupar’s frequent viral cable news clips.

Support Aaron’s work and subscribe to his newsletter here:

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By Aaron Rupar

For a beat-by-beat breakdown of this episode, check out our topics and timestamps below:

• (00:00:00) — Intro, guest welcome, and what “The Recombobulation Area” means

• (00:02:40) — Tony Romo, the Tavern League of Wisconsin & drunk driving

• (00:04:15) — Wisconsin’s gubernatorial race goes national (DSA vs. establishment battle)

• (00:04:38) — Francesca Hong’s rise

• (00:05:24) — Hong’s CNN moment: the “cancel Thanksgiving” tweet controversy

• (00:06:41) — New polling: Hong’s commanding lead after Barnes drops out

• (00:07:37) — Why Hong is surging: national attention, ground game, service-industry background

• (00:10:55) — Hong’s dominance with young voters; the data center moratorium issue

• (00:12:34) — How the establishment lane imploded (Rodriguez campaign finance scandal)

• (00:14:42) — Crowley re-enters the race with Evers’ endorsement

• (00:16:53) — Looking ahead: Hong vs. Tom Tiffany in November

• (00:17:02) — Tiffany’s far-right record (2020 election objector, birthright citizenship, Juneteenth vote)

• (00:24:82) — Voter question: will moderates balk at Hong’s DSA ties?

• (00:25:15) — Comparing to Ron Johnson’s 2022 win despite similar election-denial baggage

• (00:26:32) — Ron Johnson’s conspiracy theories and Uline family backing

• (00:31:51) — Mandela Barnes’ 2022 loss, 2026 dropout

• (00:38:00) — Down-ballot: Derrick Van Orden’s competitive 3rd District race vs. Rebecca Cooke (or Emily Berge)

• (00:40:20) — 7th District GOP primary: Sean Duffy’s 26-year-old son-in-law, Michael Alfonso

• (00:47:41) — Sean Duffy’s fading Wisconsin presence & the still-unaired “road trip” show

• (00:44:21) — Closing thoughts

Watch this episode on The Recombobulation Area’s YouTube Channel here:

For audio-only listeners, you can find us on Apple Podcasts (available here), or Spotify (find the feed here).

See more recent podcast episodes that you can find on The Recombobulation Area feed here:

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Dan Shafer is a journalist from Milwaukee who writes and publishes The Recombobulation Area. He worked with Civic Media from 2024 to 2026. He’s written for The New York Times, The Daily Beast, Heartland Signal, Belt Magazine, WisPolitics, and Milwaukee Record. He previously worked at Seattle Magazine, Seattle Business Magazine, the Milwaukee Business Journal, Milwaukee Magazine, and BizTimes Milwaukee. He’s won 24 Milwaukee Press Club Excellence in Journalism Awards. He’s on Twitter at @DanRShafer.

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With just days to go before the Aug. 11 primary, we have reached the silly season of the Democratic gubernatorial campaign. So, Angela Lang joined the podcast to ask: Have we lost the plot?

We pondered that questioned, talked about Francesca Hong’s national media appearances (which have some Democrats worried), Angela had a few things to say about David Crowley’s recent comments on “the establishment” as a “slur,” what the term “the establishment” even means anymore, Tony Evers’ involvement in the primary, what was the real turning point in the race, and more.

Plus: As fellow Milwaukeeans, we wondered: Who is going to win Milwaukee County? As folks will often reference, Bernie Sanders won 71 of 72 counties in the 2016 presidential primary in Wisconsin. The one county to go for Hilary Clinton? Milwaukee County. Could results next week show a similar map? Could Crowley carry Milwaukee? Or, could the emergence of Democratic Socialists in the city bring stronger results for Hong?

Much to discuss, folks.

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For a beat-by-beat breakdown, check out our topics and timestamps below:

• 00:01: Intro, and catching up — last time they podcasted together (May 28th)

• 01:52: Plug for Dan’s article on down-ballot primary races (Assembly, Senate, congressional)

• 02:32: “Losing the plot” — old Thanksgiving tweets dominating coverage of Francesca Hong

• 07:19: Whether Hong should keep doing national media (CNN interview) as the race nationalizes

• 09:39: What they’d rather be discussing: Trump’s endorsement of Tom Tiffany, policing, ICE and local response

• 11:44: David Crowley calling “establishment” a slur — the clip and the reaction

• 15:10: What does “establishment” even mean anymore? — buzzword fatigue and the DSA-vs-establishment framing

• 21:46: Sara Rodriguez’s campaign finance scandal and exit as the real turning point

• 23:14: The legislative bill that split Democrats over the summer, and Tony Evers’ involvement in the primary

• 27:24: Milwaukee’s role in the race — 2016 Bernie Sanders comparison, union endorsements, yard-sign spotting

• 33:17: The generational divide — Marquette poll numbers among younger voters

• 35:11: “Blue no matter who” — does it cut both ways for moderates if Hong wins?

• 37:22: Wisconsin’s ideological extremes — comparison to Sens. Baldwin and Johnson

• 39:05: Marquette polling: Hong essentially tied with Tiffany in head-to-head matchups

• 41:35: Roots of polarization — the Scott Walker recall and a decade of gerrymandering

• 42:28: The independent streak in the Fox Valley and western Wisconsin

• 43:47: The “attention economy” and Trump-era campaign tactics (wedge issues like Thanksgiving)

• 46:47: Candidate forums and how much the Democratic field actually agrees on policy

• 48:20: Sign-off — closing thoughts on primary-season Facebook posts

You can watch this episode on the Substack video player above, or you can find it The Recombobulation Area’s YouTube Channel here.

You can listen to this episode as an audio podcast on Apple Podcasts (available here), Spotify (embedded below) or on the Substack app.

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Dan Shafer is an independent journalist from Milwaukee who writes and publishes The Recombobulation Area. He worked with Civic Media from 2024 to 2026. He’s written for The New York Times, The Daily Beast, Heartland Signal, Belt Magazine, WisPolitics, and Milwaukee Record. He previously worked at Seattle Magazine, Seattle Business Magazine, the Milwaukee Business Journal, Milwaukee Magazine, and BizTimes Milwaukee. He’s won 24 Milwaukee Press Club Excellence in Journalism Awards. He’s on Twitter at @DanRShafer.

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The Democratic primary in the race for governor is going to be the most-watched contest on the Aug. 11 partisan primary ballot. And that makes sense, since it is an enormously consequential decision for the entire state, and whoever emerges from that primary as the nominee has a good chance of winning the first open race for governor since 2010.

It has also, of course, been especially chaotic and newsworthy over the last few weeks. From Sunday, July 12, when Sara Rodriguez announced she was firing her campaign manager over major finance issues, to when Mandela Barnes dropped out of the race on Thursday, July 30, it has been perhaps the most discombobulating stretch of campaigning imaginable in the history of Wisconsin campaigns — with no signs of slowing down as the calendar turns to August.

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But the Democratic gubernatorial primary is not the only significant primary on the Aug. 11 ballot. There are several competitive congressional primaries, a number of statewide contests, and a whole lot happening downballot.

Let’s take a closer look at all of them. But first…

Voting in Wisconsin’s Aug. 11 partisan primary

Wisconsin has open primaries. You don’t need to register with a party in order to vote, but you need to choose which party’s primary you’ll be voting in. You cannot vote in both the Republican and Democratic primaries.

This could create some tough decisions for certain voters. For example, local offices for County Sheriff — which is technically listed as a partisan office in Wisconsin, for some reason — may only have candidates from just one party. As Pat Kreitlow of UpNorthNews noted in a recent episode of the Wisconsin Politics Group Chat podcast this week (see: 1:01:30 mark), in Chippewa County, “it’s the Republican primary that determines who is the Sheriff.” Some who might want to vote in the Democratic Primary in the 3rd Congressional District and the Republican Primary for Chippewa County Sheriff will have to choose one party or the other.

Should there be a better system than this? Probably. But this is where we’re at right now, so let’s all play by the rules and work on fixing this when the time is right.

Here are the simple instructions about this from the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin.

Leave a comment

Statewide primaries

Statewide, there is, of course, the Democratic gubernatorial primary, where seven candidates will be on the ballot — even those who have ended their campaigns. There’s a Republican primary for governor, too, where presumptive nominee Tom Tiffany faces Andy Manske.

In addition, there is a primary for the race for State Treasurer (for Democrats), and open primaries for Secretary of State and Lieutenant Governor (for Republicans).

In the State Treasurer race, Republican incumbent John Lieber is running for re-election, and will face the winner of the Democratic Primary between Marathon County Supervisor and former Assembly candidate Yee Leng Xiong, and Dylan Helmenstine, who serves on the school board at the Wisconsin Heights School District and on the Village Board in Black Earth.

In the Secretary of State race, this is an open contest, with current Democratic incumbent Sara Godlewski running as the lone Democratic candidate for Lieutenant Governor. Godlewski will be on the ticket with whomever wins the Democratic primary for governor. Milwaukee Alderperson and former state representative JoCasta Zamarripa is the lone Democrat running. She will face the winner of the primary between Brayden Myer, Nate Pollnow, Jay Schroeder and Cindy Werner.

Congressional primaries

There are a number of primaries happening across the state in races for Congress.

Among those, there is an especially interesting Republican primary in the 7th District, where 26-year-old Michael Alfonso — the son-in-law of current U.S. Transportation Secretary and former congressman in that very district, Sean Duffy — is trying to ride a Trump endorsement and a raft of totally-above-board campaign cash from lobbyists in the transportation industry to a nomination in the Trump+22 district. Alfonso is also trying to explain away his inexperience by comparing himself to George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, since “they were 26 when they were first elected to public office,” Alfonso told the AP. Uh..sure!

There are also a couple Democratic congressional primaries of interest, including in the 3rd District, where Rebecca Cooke, who ran a close race in this district in 2024 against Republican incumbent Derrick Van Orden — running ahead of Tammy Baldwin, who has endorsed her in this race — is up against Eau Claire Council President Emily Berge, who has taken issue with endorsements Cooke has received from national Democratic groups.

There’s also a Democratic primary in the 1st Congressional District, where ER nurse Mitchell Berman is emerging as a top candidate in a field that includes Lorenzo Santos and Miguel Aranda, and did include Milwaukee Alderman Peter Burgelis, until he dropped out.

There are also primaries in nearly every other congressional district, too, even if they don’t project to be competitive, in the primary or general. Both of the incumbent Democratic members of Congress, Mark Pocan in the 2nd and Gwen Moore in the 4th, face longshot primary challenges. Douglas Alexander is the primary challenger in the 2nd; Amy Donahue is the primary challenger in the 4th. Two Republicans — Purnima Nath and Tim Rogers — are also running in the 4th.

In the 6th, Republican incumbent Glenn Grothman faces no primary challenge, but there are two Democrats running — Amanda Bell and Brad Smith. There are also two independent candidates (Elizabeth Anne Fitzgibbon, Mike Thurow) and one Wisconsin Green Party candidate (Matthew Arndt) who have made the ballot.

Along with self-described founding father Michael Alfonso, in the 7th, candidates Kevin Hermening, Jessi Ebben, Don Raihala and Niina Baum are also running in the Republican primary. Megadonors Dick and Liz Uihlein are backing different candidates in this race, with Dick backing Alfonso and Liz backing Ebben. On the Democratic side, former state representative Fred Clark leads a field that also includes Chris Armstrong and Ginger Murray.

In the 8th, Republican incumbent Tony Wied faces no primary challenger, with three Democratic candidates — Mark Scheffler, Rick Crosson, Katrina deVille — running to be the party’s nominee.

The 5th congressional district is the only one without any primaries on either side. Republican incumbent Scott Fitzgerald will face Democratic challenger Andy Beck.

Downballot primaries

Beyond those higher-profile races, though, there is, as always, much happening downballot. And you know that here at The Recombobulation Area, we’re always looking at those downballot races, particularly in the Wisconsin State Legislature.

By our review of Wisconsin Elections Commission data on who made the final primary ballot, there will be five State Senate races and 17 State Assembly races that will feature primaries on Aug. 11.

There are also a few races that feature no primaries and no partisan opponent. So, congratulations in advance to Democrats Tim Carpenter and Minority Leader Dianne Hesselbein in the State Senate, and Republicans Ron Tusler, Lindee Brill, Dave Maxey, Chuck Wichgers, Cindi Duchow, and Barbara Dittrich in the State Assembly.

There will be Republican primaries in three Senate races and six Assembly races. For Democrats, there will be primaries in three Senate races and 12 Assembly races. Those include one state Senate race (District 11) and one state Assembly race (District 33, Robin Vos’ soon-to-be former seat) that will have primaries on both sides of the aisle.

There is also a bit of a geographic cluster of where many of these primaries are happening. The majority of these primaries, particularly on the Democratic side, are happening in the Milwaukee area. A few of these are for open seats, but there are a number of incumbents being challenged, too. Many of these Democratic primaries are in heavily blue districts, so the primaries may be more competitive than the general election — and could ultimately determine the eventual winner.

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These races will be especially consequential, as this is the first fully post-Gerrymander election occurring in the Wisconsin State Legislature.

The full Assembly was up in 2024 under new maps, but only half of the state Senate was on that ballot. Now, with the other half on this year’s ballot, we have the first state legislative election in more than a decade that actually looks like Wisconsin, and isn’t deeply tilted to one side. Now, either party has a legitimate chance of winning control of the state legislature. There are realistic outcomes for both a Democratic trifecta and a Republican trifecta. So these state legislative elections are a big, big deal.

A few more things before we get to the full list:

• Unlike the extensive previews we do at The Recombobulation Area for state legislative races in general elections, this list will not offer much beyond the list of names on the ballot, links to each candidate’s official campaign page, some district location information, the data on how the district voted in the presidential and U.S. Senate races in 2024, and maybe a news link.

  • I’m not offering commentary or endorsements on any of these races. This is meant to be a jumping-off point for readers to connect to races in their local communities.

• If you’re looking for coverage on any particular primary races to watch, this piece from Wisconsin Watch is a good place to start.

• If you’re looking for how these might factor into races for the larger balance of power in the Senate and Assembly, our friend and Marquette researcher John D. Johnson wrote a piece on the battleground districts, with a rating on each.

• BE PREPARED! Find out if you live in a district where there is a primary in a state legislative race by going to MyVote Wisconsin, and clicking on “What’s On My Ballot.” Or, go straight there at this link.

So, with that, let’s take a look at the list of primaries that will be happening on Aug. 11 in Wisconsin. We’ll start with the ones happening on the Democratic side.

Democratic primaries in the Wisconsin State Legislature

The State Senate

Senate District 17

This is going to be one of the most competitive races on the map in the State Senate, and will be key to determining which party controls the balance of power in the legislature’s upper chamber. There, Republican incumbent Howard Marklein, the co-chair of the powerful Joint Committee on Finance, is running for re-election in this southwestern Wisconsin district that was narrowly won by Kamala Harris and Tammy Baldwin in 2024. Marklein will face one of three Democratic candidates in the general election.

• The Democratic primary candidates are:

  • State Rep. Jenna Jacobson

  • Corrine Hendrickson

  • Lisa Rose White

District data: Harris+1, Baldwin+5

(Note: Corrine Hendrickson has written for The Recombobulation Area.)

Senate District 23

Republican State Sen. Romaine Quinn is running for re-election, but the new maps put him one district over, so he’s running in the 23rd instead of the 25th, which he currently represents. Quinn will face one of two Democratic candidates in the general election in this rural northwestern Wisconsin district.

• The Democratic primary candidates are:

  • Jeff Foster

  • Richard Pulcher

District data: Trump+36, Hovde+32

The State Assembly

Assembly District 8

Angel Sanchez is the Republican on the ballot in this district on Milwaukee’s south side. On the Democratic side, the incumbent faces a primary challenger after she was charged with misdemeanor disorderly conduct earlier this year.

• The Democratic primary candidates are:

  • Incumbent: Sylvia Ortiz-Velez

  • Challenger: Ismael Luna

District data: Harris+45, Baldwin+52

Assembly District 9

Samuel Guerreo is the Republican on the ballot in this district in West Milwaukee and the city of Milwaukee’s southwest side.

• The Democratic primary candidates are:

  • Incumbent: Priscilla Prado

  • Challenger: Mimi Reza

District data: Harris+34, Baldwin+41

Assembly District 12

There is no Republican or independent running in this district on Milwaukee’s northwest side. The winner of this primary will be the next Assembly representative in the 12th.

• The Democratic primary candidates are:

  • Incumbent: Russell Goodwin, Sr.

  • Challenger: Jordan Roman

District data: Harris+60, Baldwin+61

Assembly District 13

This will be an open contest, as incumbent Democratic State Rep. Robyn Vining is running for state Senate. Mike Morgan is the only Republican running in this suburban district that includes parts of Wauwatosa, Elm Grove and Brookfield. He’ll face the winner of the Democratic primary.

• The Democratic primary candidates are:

  • David Sanchez

  • Amy Zimmerman

District data: Harris+20, Baldwin+18

Assembly District 19

Yasmine Outlaw is the Republican on the ballot in this district, located on Milwaukee’s East Side, Downtown, and Bay View.

• The Democratic primary candidates are:

  • Incumbent: Ryan Clancy

  • Challenger: Bridget Maniaci

District data: Harris+60, Baldwin+62

Assembly District 21

This will be an open contest, as incumbent Republican State Rep. Jessie Rodriguez is not running for re-election in this swing district in southeastern Milwaukee County. Dylan Pfaffenbach is the only Republican running.

• The Democratic primary candidates are:

  • Daniel Bukiewicz

  • David Liners

District data: Harris+4, Baldwin+7

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Assembly District 50

This will be an open contest, with incumbent Democratic State Rep. Jenna Jacobsen running for State Senate in District 17. The Republican on the ballot in this southwestern Wisconsin district is Jon Aleckson.

• The Democratic primary candidates are:

  • Bryna Caves

  • Josh Mittness

  • Bill Oemichen

District data: Harris+14, Baldwin+16

Assembly District 56

This is an open seat, after Republican incumbent Dave Murphy moved out of the district in the first year of this two-year term. This is a mostly rural district in and near the Fox Valley.

• The Democratic primary candidates are:

  • Grace Abitz

  • Shawna Riley

District data: Trump+27, Hovde+26

Assembly District 61

Republican incumbent Bob Donovan is running for re-election in this swing seat in southwestern Milwaukee County district (that Donovan might not actually be living in).

• The Democratic primary candidates are:

  • Brian Bock

  • Ben Brist

  • Lawanda Chambers

District data: Harris+2, Baldwin+4

Assembly District 76

This Madison district is currently represented by Francesca Hong. Nina Chat is the Republican on the ballot, who will face one of five Democratic candidates.

• The Democratic primary candidates are:

  • Isaia Ben-Ami

  • Juliana Bennett

  • Tony Castaneda

  • Dina Nina Martinez-Rutherford

  • Zoe Sullivan

District data: Harris+78, Baldwin+80

Assembly District 92

This district includes the cities of Menomonie and Chippewa Falls, just north of Eau Claire. Republican incumbent Clint Moses is running for re-election.

Note: During my recent live conversation with Ben Wikler in Eau Claire, I talked about this district, and said that if Democrats win this race, it likely means they win control of the Assembly (44:00 mark below).

• The Democratic primary candidates are:

  • Jeremiah Fredrickson

  • Mel M. Marin (no online presence)

Refer a friend

Republican primaries in the Wisconsin State Legislature

The State Senate

Senate District 1

Mark Becker is the former chairman of the Republican Party of Brown County, and he left the GOP during the Trump era. He is running as an independent in this district. There is no Democrat running in this district. Becker will face one of four Republicans vying for the nomination in this northeastern Wisconsin district that includes Door County.

• The Republican primary candidates are:

  • Kate Baney

  • Barbara Bittner

  • Nic Cravillion

  • Jacob VandenPlas

District data: Trump+20, Hovde+19

(Note: Becker has written for The Recombobulation Area and is the former host of “Rational Revolution” on Civic Media.)

Senate District 25

Charly Ray is the Democratic candidate in this district. This is an open seat, with Republican incumbent Romaine Quinn running in Senate District 23 following redistricting in this, the northernmost district in the state. This primary pits two former Republican state representatives against each other.

• The Republican primary candidates are:

  • Angie Sapik

  • Erik Severson

District data: Trump+13, Hovde+9

The State Assembly

Assembly District 26

First-term Democratic incumbent Joe Sheehan is running for re-election in this swing district that includes the city of Sheboygan.

• The Republican primary candidates are:

  • John Belanger

  • James Brotz

  • Tyler Schneekloth

District data: Harris+3, Baldwin+5

Assembly District 37

LaToya Bates is the lone Democratic candidate running in this district that includes Waupun and Beaver Dam. Mark Born, the incumbent Republican who serves as the co-chair of the Joint Committee on Finance, faces a primary challenger.

• The Republican primary candidates are:

  • Incumbent: Mark Born

  • Challenger: Steve Rydzewski

District data: Trump+28, Hovde+26

Assembly District 57

An open seat after Republican incumbent Kevin Peterson chose not to seek re-election, this race will feature Democratic candidate Joey Marschall against one of three Republican candidates in this district that includes Waupaca and Wautoma.

• The Republican primary candidates are:

  • Ed Delgado

  • Kevin Krentz

  • Dylan Testin

  • Bill Lorge

District data: Trump+34, Hovde+31

Assembly District 58

Dennis Degenhardt is the Democratic candidate running in this open seat in a district that includes West Bend and Slinger. He’ll face one of two Republicans.

• The Republican primary candidates are:

  • Christopher Bossert

  • Bernie Newman

District data: Trump+36, Hovde+36

Assembly District 74

Paul Johnson is the Democratic candidate running in for this seat. Republican incumbent Chanz Green faces a primary challenger in this northwoods district.

• The Republican primary candidates are:

  • Incumbent: Chanz Green

  • Challenger: Scott Harbridge

District data: Trump+22, Hovde+19

Democratic AND Republican primaries

Senate District 11

With Republican incumbent Steve Nass not seeking re-election, there are primaries on both sides of the aisle.

• The Republican primary candidates are:

  • Nick Polce

  • Ellen Schutt

  • Sandy Wiedmeyer

• The Democratic primary candidates are:

  • Steven Doelder

  • Adam Duda

District data: Trump+28, Hovde+27

Assembly District 33

With longtime Assembly Speaker Robin Vos not seeking re-election, this is an open seat in this district that includes western Racine and eastern Walworth counties.

• The Republican primary candidates are:

  • Rick Stacey

  • Steve Wicklund

• The Democratic primary candidates are:

  • Rick Bailey

  • Maria Elena Bisabarros

District data: Trump+29, Hovde+29

Hey, remember those crazy legislature previews we do every election cycle? You know, these?

Well, we’re planning to be doing this again! Subscribe so you don’t miss it.

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Dan Shafer is an independent journalist from Milwaukee who writes and publishes The Recombobulation Area. He worked with Civic Media from 2024 to 2026. He’s written for The New York Times, The Daily Beast, Heartland Signal, Belt Magazine, WisPolitics, and Milwaukee Record. He previously worked at Seattle Magazine, Seattle Business Magazine, the Milwaukee Business Journal, Milwaukee Magazine, and BizTimes Milwaukee. He’s won 24 Milwaukee Press Club Excellence in Journalism Awards. He’s on Twitter at @DanRShafer.

Subscribe to The Recombobulation newsletter here and follow us on Facebook and Instagram at @ therecombobulationarea.

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Francesca Hong, the state representative from Madison who has become the frontrunner in the Democratic primary in the race for governor, has some in Wisconsin Democratic circles concerned following a round of national media interviews that have drawn negative attention to her and her campaign.

Those appearances have some questioning if her campaign is ready for the rigors of a general election battle against presumptive Republican nominee, Congressman Tom Tiffany, if she were to become the nominee. Polls have shown Hong with a commanding lead with days to go before the Aug. 11 primary.

In response to questions from The Recombobulation Area regarding these recent interviews, Allison Geyer, Hong campaign communications director, said:

“Rep. Hong is talking to anyone and everyone about her platform to stop AI data centers and tax the rich to make Wisconsin more affordable by guaranteeing universal childcare, expanded healthcare, fully funded schools, and more. Fran’s campaign for governor is different because we want to talk to voters everywhere, any way we can, and not just rely on 30-second TV ads. That’s why we’re the only campaign that has made more than 300 stops across Wisconsin and will knock 500,000 doors by Aug. 11 with our more than 7,000 volunteers.”

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Hong has run an unconventional campaign for governor — Geyer characterized it as a “grassroots, outsider campaign” — and she found success on that path. Polls from Marquette University and State Navigate showed Hong well ahead of the Democratic primary field, a group that now includes Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, State Sen. Kelda Roys, and former Department of Administration secretary Joel Brennan. Each of those three candidates polled in single digits in the July 29 Marquette poll, with Hong at 38%1.

But recent appearances in higher-profile settings have brought a renewed sense of concern over her campaign and whether it has the experience necessary to win a statewide general election, according to multiple sources in Democratic circles in Wisconsin.

These concerns escalated following a primetime interview on “The Source” with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on Monday, Aug. 3, where Hong was asked about prior comments she’d made about whether she believed Thanksgiving should be canceled, calling the holiday a “time that’s incredibly painful for many people in our communities.” The next day’s Milwaukee Journal Sentinel headline read, “In CNN interview, Hong doesn’t back off ‘cancel Thanksgiving’ post”.

“She needs to broaden the circle of advisers she speaks with every day,” said one source with connections to the Democratic Party of Wisconsin (DPW). “Her current team may be effective at organizing and mobilizing the DSA-aligned left, but she lacks seasoned Wisconsin electoral and media experts in her senior inner circle. Strategists that have a track record of winning statewide. That needs to change ASAP.”

Since the Monday interview on CNN, Hong has responded differently in an interview with POLITICO:

Over the last week, the Hong campaign has made many national media appearances, including those on Fox News, CNN, NewsNation/The Hill, Pod Save America, and now POLITICO. Some recently resurfaced controversial tweets that have come under scrutiny in recent days have become topics of some of those interviews.

Asked why Hong has been spending so much time in national media interviews and appearances the last few days, Geyer said:

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There is now less than a week to go before Wisconsin’s Aug. 11 partisan primary, and your friends at the Wisconsin Politics Group Chat podcast are here to break it all down.

The chat reacts to results from the U.S. Senate primary in Michigan, Francesca Hong’s recent national media appearances (including That Thanksgiving Answer on CNN), discusses primaries happening up and down the ballot, and much more.

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This episode aired live on Pat Kreitlow’s UpNorth YouTube Channel on Wednesday, Aug. 5, at 9 a.m.

For a beat-by-beat breakdown, check out our topics and timestamps below:

• 02:52: Michigan Senate primary results: El-Sayed vs. Stevens

• 06:52: What Michigan means for Wisconsin (and what it doesn’t)

• 10:24: The frenzied final week of the governor’s race: ads, mailers, and the Crowley–Evers roadshow

• 13:35: Can we trust the polls? Late polling and growing skepticism

• 16:39: David Crowley, endorsements, and his Milwaukee County record

• 20:24: Francesca Hong, consistency, values, and working in a GOP-controlled legislature

• 23:42: Hong’s old tweets, the “canceling Thanksgiving” controversy, and campaign strategy

• 32:48: Kelda’s poll: how to spot a questionable poll

• 36:14: Dark money: Republican spending in the Democratic primary

• 42:27: Abortion is back on the ballot — and Tom Tiffany’s record

• 44:17: The Attorney General’s race: Josh Kaul vs. Eric Toney

• 47:43: Down-ballot rundown: congressional, treasurer, and legislative primaries

• 52:48: Make your voting plan (no early voting Monday!)

Watch this video here on Substack and on The Recombobulation Area’s YouTube Channel.

You can find every episode of the Wisconsin Politics Group Chat on The Recombobulation Area’s podcast feed, available on Spotify (embedded below), Apple Podcasts (available here), and right here on Substack.

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In case you’ve missed a previous episode of the Wisconsin Politics Group Chat, you can find them all here.

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This year’s election for governor is a must-win for Wisconsin Democrats, who hope to gain a state trifecta for the first time since 2010, in promising political conditions. Republicans have coalesced around MAGA Republican Tom Tiffany, who aided Donald Trump’s illegal efforts to overturn his legitimate 2020 presidential loss.

Democratic voters will choose their nominee in the Aug. 11 primary, with early voting already underway. State Rep. Francesca Hong, a Democratic socialist, has increased her lead to more than 20 points in polls of the primary field, with similar strength in all parts of the state, followed by David Crowley, Kelda Roys, and Joel Brennan. Democratic voters naturally want to choose a nominee who shares their values and can win.

Hong’s opponents are trying to slow her momentum by arguing strategy more than values or policy. Crowley, for example, says Republican hopes for a Hong nomination mean she will be easier to defeat this fall.

But Crowley assumes too much Republican savvy. The best political science evidence we have suggests all the party’s candidates are similarly favored to beat Tiffany in a fairly close contest, and no Democrat is clearly “safer” than the others.

Nothing is guaranteed, and anyone claiming certainty is misleading us, but these are the likeliest conclusions based on a range of evidence I’ll walk through here. The main ideas are as follows:

1. Political conditions favor Democrats, pointing to a wave election

2. Those fundamentals matter much more than candidates and campaign choices

3. Progressive candidates do just as well as moderates

4. Wisconsin voters like progressive policies (but most voters don’t vote on policy)

5. Polling hypothetical general election matchups now isn’t predictive for November

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Wave elections

In the current political environment, all Democratic gubernatorial candidates would be favored to win, albeit in a fairly close election – perhaps a margin of 0-to-5%.

President Donald Trump is historically unpopular, and an unpopular president’s party almost always loses ground in congressional and state-level elections in a midterm election, driven especially by differential turnout. And the wave, combined with the electorate’s underlying partisanship, tends to lift all the candidates in that party. These “fundamentals” set the narrow range of likely outcomes in which candidate and campaign differences might matter (but often don’t).

Off-cycle elections in 2025 and 2026 in Wisconsin show a likely Democratic wave. With Trump off the ballot, Democrats (let’s be honest) won the 2025 Wisconsin Supreme Court election by a 10-point margin, and the equivalent 2026 election by 20 points. But Democrats are unlikely to equal those margins in the higher-turnout midterms.

Marquette polls show President Trump is more unpopular among Wisconsin’s registered voters now (-19 net favorability) than he was at this time in 2018 (-8 net favorability), suggesting a bigger Democratic wave this year in Wisconsin.

Polling on the generic U.S. House ballot shows a 7.2% national advantage for Democrats now, largely similar to a 4-to-7-point Democratic advantage in summer 2018. And views of Wisconsin’s outgoing Democratic governor Tony Evers remain more favorable than not.

Even in wave years, candidates from the same party can win with different numbers of votes, often with an incumbency advantage. There is no incumbent in this year’s election for governor, so the general wave is more likely to apply.

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Progressive candidates do as well as moderates with voters

Distinctions between candidates within a party don’t matter much. Most notably for our case — and contrary to common punditry — the best evidence shows moderate candidates don’t win more votes than progressives.

Many strategists assume everyone is an ideologue, everyone pays close attention to campaigns, voters choose based on issue preference, and the candidate who takes positions closest to the “median voter” on those policies wins. None of that is true.

Why? Most voters aren’t ideological, and the exceptions to this rule are impervious to persuasion. Even in primaries, seemingly obvious ideological coalitions often fail to materialize. For example, Hillary Clinton’s 2016 primary voters were similar or left of democratic socialist Bernie Sanders’ voters on some economic policies but were substantially different on age, ethnicity, and their lesser attachment to the Democratic Party.

Voters generally don’t choose based on policy. Americans are much more likely to adopt their favored candidates’ positions than vote for a candidate based on policy views.

As Ben Wikler notes (among many others), voters care most about outcomes – making life better for people – much less about the policy details to get there. And so when voters feel the country is on the wrong track and life is getting worse, they punish the incumbent party. Voters tend to punish the president’s party more than they do the governors’ parties.

Beyond that, the public’s political views come from their feelings toward social groups by class, race, religion, gender, and sexuality, and adopting views of friends and family.

Put differently, Hong winning the general election would signal a big change for the Democratic Party in Wisconsin and beyond, but for most voters — less aware of these inside baseball arguments — it would be just another day at the ballot box.

Even if ideology did matter for winning, Republicans are nominating a right-wing authoritarian, which frees Democrats to choose a candidate who best reflects their aspirations for a freer and fairer Wisconsin. It makes sense for Democrats to highlight Tiffany’s extremism and their own popular Democratic visions, but ideology won’t be as big of a factor.

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Winning midterms is more about turnout than persuasion

Midterm elections that punish an unpopular president’s party are driven by differences in enthusiastic turnout more than persuasion, though the turnout disparity is less in highly competitive elections. Wisconsin Democrats are already much more motivated to vote this year than Wisconsin Republicans, according to a recent Marquette poll.

Non-voting gets little attention in election discourse, even though non-voting is the most popular choice. In the 2022 U.S. Senate race, 43% of eligible Wisconsinites didn’t vote, far more than the 30% voting for each party’s candidate.

Some of those people probably can’t reasonably be mobilized, either from total disinterest or barriers to voting. But many are disaffected and would vote for Democrats (or Republicans) if they felt a party would meaningfully improve the lives of people in their community and beyond.

As Anat Shenker-Osorio argues, you need a cause that draws people, a clear contrast with the opposition, and to meet people at their broadly shared values. And you do that with a message people are excited to share, because ordinary people are the most effective advocates.

Which Democratic candidate is most likely to motivate voters to turn out? If there is a difference between candidates, Hong seems to have an edge with energy from progressive groups and young people. She has positioned herself as a “change” candidate at a time when the general public and the Democratic base are deeply dissatisfied with the status quo.

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What about “Democratic Socialism”?

Wisconsin has a long history electing progressives and socialists going back to “Fighting Bob” LaFollette, the Progressive Party, and Milwaukee’s socialist mayors — as Wayne’s World fans know well. Their ideas were later adopted by New Deal Democrats, including Social Security, unemployment insurance, and public housing. Democratic socialists seem to be continuing that approach in Wisconsin, New York, Colorado, Kentucky, and elsewhere at local and state levels.

Some Democrats worry Hong’s embrace of the “Democratic Socialist” label could cost her votes. The July 22 Marquette poll shows only a quarter of registered voters have a positive view of the name, half have a negative view, and another quarter don’t know. Among Democrats, 54% have a favorable view and 10% are unfavorable.

Long story short, though, Hong’s candidacy is likely to improve public perceptions of the label by defining it with her popular vision, rather than her losing votes because of it.

Most voters don’t choose candidates because of policy, but many Wisconsin voters do like the policies of progressive Democratic candidates — and Hong’s, in particular.

Among the 1,168 Wisconsin respondents in the 2024 Cooperative Election Survey (YouGov), 75% supported expanding Medicaid1, 66% supported raising taxes on the rich2, 58% supported more healthcare spending, 55% supported raising corporate taxes3, and 55% supported more education spending.

Beyond affordability, 66% of Wisconsinites supported same-sex marriage, 57% supported abortion access without any limits, and 55% supported granting legal status to undocumented immigrants. Only 26% of Wisconsinites supported arming Israel.

Most voters don’t know, use, or care about standard ideological labels except as synonyms for the two parties (if that). “Democratic socialist” is even more obscure, and Cold War hysteria is antiquated. More directly, a recent Cato study found that candidates were as likely to gain as lose support because of the label in a national survey.

Counterintuitively, Hong’s use of “Democratic socialist” may actually help distinguish her from “establishment” Democrats and a party brand more toxic than Republicans’ in Wisconsin.

Republicans have also begun calling Democrats “communists,” showing that their messaging won’t discern between Democratic candidates, regardless of chosen labels.

Interpreting Marquette Polls

Marquette University polls, led by Charles Franklin, are the clearest quantitative evidence we have on where the campaign stands now, but they come with several important caveats. [Full disclosure: Charles was my undergraduate adviser in college.]

1. Marquette polls sample registered voters, but Wisconsin has same-day registration, and Hong’s strongest support is from young people and folks disgruntled with the usual Democratic candidates who are less likely to be registered. That means Hong’s primary and general election support could be underestimated in the polls. Those groups are admittedly lower-turnout groups, but currently unregistered voters could be decisive in November.

2. Polls won’t become strongly predictive of November voter behavior until early fall, when normal people start paying attention (sorry, nerds!). Most Wisconsinites couldn’t even name the candidates now. Presidential polls typically aren’t predictive until September, moving into line with the fundamentals, though earlier polls may be growing more accurate in recent years.

3. The range of results for hypothetical general election matchups is largely within the margin of error – the Democratic candidates were statistically indistinguishable from each other against Tiffany.

4. Getting representative survey samples in Wisconsin is hard these days. All the polls seem to be moving similarly, which is a good sign, but they may all be picking up similar biases due survey recruitment challenges.

Beyond 2026

In this year’s midterm elections, Democrats hope to set the party up for future electoral successes, including strong results in years that don’t favor Democrats like this one.

Former Democratic Party of Wisconsin chair Ben Wikler’s guidance is especially on point with ideas for building a strong party organization, including a focus on local relationships, face-to-face interactions, and non-stop organizing and visibility for the party statewide.

But, beyond improving party organization and messaging, Democrats in government will need to show voters they can meaningfully deliver more wellbeing for all Wisconsinites. To change public views of the party longer term, Democrats will need to make noticeable change from the unpopular status quo, which will also require effective leadership to guide that vision through the state legislature and be implemented well.

Democratic voters naturally want a nominee who shares their values and can win. The best evidence we have suggests any of the Democratic candidates can win in November. The main question facing Democratic voters, then, is this: which candidate has the vision and leadership to deliver what Wisconsin needs?

Nathan Kalmoe is Executive Administrative Director of the Center for Communication & Civic Renewal at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is co-author of Neither Liberal nor Conservative: Ideological Innocence in the American Public. His current book project is How We Make American Democracy: A Practical Guide to a Free & Fair Future for Everyone, synthesizing practitioner and scholar expertise on how pro-democracy people in all walks of life can be more effective at making political change. He grew up in the Fox Cities, earned his BA in political science and journalism from UW-Madison, and got his PhD in political science from the University of Michigan.

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Programming note: We are working with a new video setup for live, in-person interviews. The full, unedited version of this video was available first for paid subscribers only. We are now posting an edited version of the video here and on The Recombobulation Area’s YouTube Channel, along with a podcast available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and here on Substack.

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Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley has had a rather unique campaign in his run for governor, to say the least. He dropped out of the race in early July and endorsed Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez a day later, not realizing she had misled him about an unraveling campaign finance crisis in her campaign.

Ten days later, he’d officially re-launch his campaign, and do so with the backing of Gov. Tony Evers. Since, he’s picked up a number of labor union endorsements, and has been hitting the road in an effort to get his message across the state, in this last-minute sprint before the Aug. 11 primary.

The campaign in this primary — perhaps the most discombobulating primary in American politics — changed again last week, after former lieutenant governor Mandela Barnes dropped out of the race, days after the one and only debate, and after polls from State Navigate and Marquette University showed State Rep. Francesca Hong with a commanding lead.

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So, just 16 days after Crowley re-entered the race, and just eight days before Election Day, I sat down with Crowley at Dandy, a vintage furniture store and event venue on West Vliet Street in Milwaukee1.

We talked about what he considers his top accomplishments in his six years at the helm in Milwaukee County, what he’d want to do as governor if Democrats were to win a trifecta, his thoughts on eight years of divided government in Wisconsin, how he is seeking to reach voters outside of southeastern Wisconsin, his relationship with Democratic Socialists in county government in Milwaukee, whether the Democratic Party has a problem with “elitism,” Francesca Hong’s recent rally with Congresswoman Ilhan Omar and Hasan Piker, what it means to build the “broadest coalition possible,” why union support matters to him, and much more.

You can watch the full, lightly edited video here on Substack or on our YouTube Channel.

Video edited by Katie Shafer.

Listen as an audio podcast on Spotify (embedded below) or on Apple Podcasts (available here).

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There are many ways to recombobulate, folks.

Dan Shafer is a journalist from Milwaukee who writes and publishes The Recombobulation Area. He worked with Civic Media from 2024 to 2026. He’s written for The New York Times, The Daily Beast, Heartland Signal, Belt Magazine, WisPolitics, and Milwaukee Record. He previously worked at Seattle Magazine, Seattle Business Magazine, the Milwaukee Business Journal, Milwaukee Magazine, and BizTimes Milwaukee. He’s won 24 Milwaukee Press Club Excellence in Journalism Awards. He’s on Twitter at @DanRShafer.

Subscribe to The Recombobulation newsletter here and follow us on Facebook and Instagram at @ therecombobulationarea.

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Follow Dan Shafer on Twitter at @DanRShafer, at BlueSky at @danshafer.bsky.social, and on Threads at @danshafer.

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Programming note: The full, unedited version of this video interview is available first for paid subscribers only. We will be posting more from this interview soon on The Recombobulation Area’s YouTube Channel, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and here on Substack.

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Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley has had a rather unique campaign in his run for governor, to say the least. He dropped out of the race in early July and endorsed Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez a day later, not realizing she had misled him about an unraveling campaign finance crisis in her campaign.

Ten days later, he’d officially re-launch his campaign, and do so with the backing of Gov. Tony Evers. Since, he’s picked up a number of labor union endorsements, and has been hitting the road in an effort to get his message across the state, in this last-minute sprint before the Aug. 11 primary.

The campaign in this primary — perhaps the most discombobulating primary in American politics — changed again last week, after former lieutenant governor Mandela Barnes dropped out of the race, days after the one and only debate, and after polls from State Navigate and Marquette University showed State Rep. Francesca Hong with a commanding lead.

Share

So, just 16 days after Crowley re-entered the race, and just eight days before Election Day, I sat down with Crowley at Dandy, a vintage furniture store and event venue on West Vliet Street in Milwaukee1.

We talked about what he considers his top accomplishments in his six years at the helm in Milwaukee County, what he’d want to do as governor if Democrats were to win a trifecta, his thoughts on eight years of divided government in Wisconsin, how he is seeking to reach voters outside of southeastern Wisconsin, his relationship with Democratic Socialists in county government in Milwaukee, whether the Democratic Party has a problem with “elitism,” Francesca Hong’s recent rally with Congresswoman Ilhan Omar and Hasan Piker, what it means to build the “broadest coalition possible,” why union support matters to him, and much more.

Refer a friend

Read more

Subscribe now

Programming note: The full, unedited version of this video interview is available first for paid subscribers only. We will be posting more from this interview soon on The Recombobulation Area’s YouTube Channel, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and here on Substack.

Get more from Dan Shafer in the Substack app

Available for iOS and Android

Get the app

Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley has had a rather unique campaign in his run for governor, to say the least. He dropped out of the race in early July and endorsed Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez a day later, not realizing she had misled him about an unraveling campaign finance crisis in her campaign.

Ten days later, he’d officially re-launch his campaign, and do so with the backing of Gov. Tony Evers. Since, he’s picked up a number of labor union endorsements, and has been hitting the road in an effort to get his message across the state, in this last-minute sprint before the Aug. 11 primary.

The campaign in this primary — perhaps the most discombobulating primary in American politics — changed again last week, after former lieutenant governor Mandela Barnes dropped out of the race, days after the one and only debate, and after polls from State Navigate and Marquette University showed State Rep. Francesca Hong with a commanding lead.

Share

So, just 16 days after Crowley re-entered the race, and just eight days before Election Day, I sat down with Crowley at Dandy, a vintage furniture store and event venue on West Vliet Street in Milwaukee1.

We talked about what he considers his top accomplishments in his six years at the helm in Milwaukee County, what he’d want to do as governor if Democrats were to win a trifecta, his thoughts on eight years of divided government in Wisconsin, how he is seeking to reach voters outside of southeastern Wisconsin, his relationship with Democratic Socialists in county government in Milwaukee, whether the Democratic Party has a problem with “elitism,” Francesca Hong’s recent rally with Congresswoman Ilhan Omar and Hasan Piker, what it means to build the “broadest coalition possible,” why union support matters to him, and much more.

Read more

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Ben Wikler, the former chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, is out on tour, promoting his terrific new book, “This Is The Plan: How to End America’s Meltdown and Save Democracy.”

I joined Wikler to host the event in Eau Claire on Sunday, July 26, for a live conversation to talk about the book, Wisconsin’s especially discombobulating campaign season, and much more, on topics from gerrymandering to the filibuster to “the establishment” to state legislative races to the news of the day on Ken Martin and the DNC. He even explained why he agrees with Sen. Ron Johnson on something (yes, really!).

And in case you missed it — which, hey, you might have; there’s a lot going on these days! — we have full audio of the event here.

The event was introduced by Secretary of State Sarah Godlewski, who is also running to be Wisconsin’s next Lieutenant Governor. Wikler and I joined next, at the wonderful Pablo Center at the Confluence, and talked for about 30 minutes, before we answered a few questions.

You can listen here, on the Substack app, on Spotify (embedded below) or on Apple Podcasts (available here).

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The event even made the local news in Eau Claire. We love a newspaper headline, folks!

Event audio recorded by Jonathan Klett, mixed by Jennie Brand.

Dan Shafer is an independent journalist from Milwaukee who writes and publishes The Recombobulation Area. He worked with Civic Media from 2024 to 2026. He’s written for The New York Times, The Daily Beast, Heartland Signal, Belt Magazine, WisPolitics, and Milwaukee Record. He previously worked at Seattle Magazine, Seattle Business Magazine, the Milwaukee Business Journal, Milwaukee Magazine, and BizTimes Milwaukee. He’s won 24 Milwaukee Press Club Excellence in Journalism Awards. He’s on Twitter at @DanRShafer.

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Follow Dan Shafer on Twitter at @DanRShafer, at BlueSky at @danshafer.bsky.social, and on Threads at @danshafer.