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.
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.
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.
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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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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Shoutout to the good folks Dandy for being such gracious and accommodating hosts!
