Go vote, Wisconsin.

This is it. This is the everything-on-the-line, fork-in-the-road election we’ve been building toward for years and years. Go vote. You’re going to want to say you were a part of this moment.

Nov 03, 2026

The Recombobulation Area is a ~~19-time~~ 21-TIME! Milwaukee Press Club award-winning opinion column and online publication founded by Milwaukee journalist Dan Shafer.

David Crowley’s final election eve rally was held at the Laborers Union/AFL-CIO hall on Milwaukee’s blue collar northwest side. Photo by Dan Shafer.

It’s hard to even put into words how much this election means for the state of Wisconsin.

This is a true everything-on-the-line, fork-in-the-road election for this state. The first open race for governor in 16 years. The first time in a generation where either party could realistically win control of the Wisconsin State Legislature — and the voters will be the ones to decide. A Democratic trifecta — control of the Senate, Assembly, and governorship — is very much in play.

This is a moment for a new Wisconsin.

Sixteen years is a long time. Republicans have controlled the state legislature for 16 years, and quite simply, they have not delivered for the state of Wisconsin. It’s time for a change.

While this state has had a Democratic governor for eight years, there’s a reason that so many praise Tony Evers as being a great “goalie.” His powerful veto pen has done tremendously important work over the last eight years, but because Republicans have controlled the legislature throughout his time as governor, he was never really able to advance an agenda.

Now is the opportunity to flip the script and play some offense. To enact good policy on everything from health care to public education to local government to child care to gun safety to abortion rights to marijuana legalization to voting rights and the foundational elements of our democracy.

That can only happen if Democrats win up and down the ballot. Every vote matters. Every Senate race matters. Every Assembly race matters. Every statewide office — State Treasurer, Secretary of State, Attorney General — matters.

Today is the day we can slam the door shut on the despicable Robin Vos era once and for all. To put an end to “divide and conquer.” To chart a new course forward for Wisconsin, while also finding some back-to-basics, take-care-of-your-neighbor simplicity that’s been missing from our politics.

David Crowley is the right candidate to be at the top of the ticket to help shepherd in this new era. He is a bridge-builder at his core, and that is exactly what’s needed in Wisconsin to reset our politics after this endlessly divisive time that Republicans brought upon the state beginning at the last fork-in-the-road moment for the state in 2010.

We’ve been covering David Crowley and his rise in Milwaukee for quite some time here at The Recombobulation Area. We’ve been covering the legislature, The Gerrymander, the Democratic primary, and the election-by-election effort to turn the tide in Wisconsin’s state politics. It’s all coming together tonight. It’s time to recombobulate this great state.

Be sure to vote.

But take it a step beyond that. Go ahead and be that annoying politics person in your group chat and get everyone you know to vote, too. Tell your neighbors. Tell your friends. Tell your family. We need everyone to be part of this moment. We’re doing this together. You’re going to want to say you were there for this moment.

We’ll see you back here when the polls close for our live show at 8 p.m.

Let’s recombobulate Wisconsin.

ICYMI: See highlights of our coverage from the last few weeks, and make plans to join us for LIVE ELECTION NIGHT COVERAGE with the “Wisconsin Politics Group Chat.”