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Election SHOCKER humbles pollsters and pundits resets key midterm race · INSIGHT TODAY

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  Speaker 1: It's hard to overstate just how crazy and unexpected the
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  Speaker 1: weeks leading up to last night's primaries were in the
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  Speaker 1: state of Wisconsin. I mean, just look at what some
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  Speaker 1: of the polling looked like during the final few weeks
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  Speaker 1: of the campaign. It appeared that State Assembly member and
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  Speaker 1: Democratic socialist Francesca Hang had this race in the bag.
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  Speaker 1: She led the other candidates by very wide margins. But
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  Speaker 1: let this be a reminder to everyone that polls are
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  Speaker 1: not actually ballots, and poles are only as good as
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  Speaker 1: their bet on who will make up the final electorate
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  Speaker 1: of voters. And about the snapshot in time, Indian ton
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  Speaker 1: came up short, losing by a razor thin margin to
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  Speaker 1: Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, a candidate who last month
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  Speaker 1: actually dropped out of the primary race after falling to
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  Speaker 1: single digits in those polls I just mentioned. Now, just
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  Speaker 1: ten days later, Crowley jumped back into the race after
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  Speaker 1: Wisconsin Lieutenant Governor Sarah Rodriguez dropped out following a campaign
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  Speaker 1: finance scandal. Things then appear to take a turn for
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  Speaker 1: Crowley when Wisconsin's current and I would argue, very beloved
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  Speaker 1: Governor Tony Evers publicly endorsed him and campaigned with his
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  Speaker 1: heart out with him too. And even still, the general
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  Speaker 1: consensus from polsters to pundits was that Crowley needed a
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  Speaker 1: minor miracle to come out on top in this primary.
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  Speaker 1: He was up against Francesca Honks crass roots organizing campaign
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  Speaker 1: and progressive platform, which mirrored what has excited voters in
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  Speaker 1: a number of other parts of the country. She campaigns
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  Speaker 1: on permanent affordability, things like subsidizing childcare, free school lunches,
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  Speaker 1: raising the minimum wage, and taxing the wealthiest. Crowley pitched
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  Speaker 1: himself as the moderate alternative. He campaigns on expanding trade,
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  Speaker 1: apprentices misship programs, cutting regulations for entrepreneurs, investing more broadly
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  Speaker 1: in housing, healthcare, and schools. He also ran on his
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  Speaker 1: record as a Milwaukee County executive, his background as a
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  Speaker 1: community organizer where he got a start, and his record
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  Speaker 1: of working with Republicans in the legislature when he was
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  Speaker 1: in the state Assembly. What exactly led to Crowley's stunning
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  Speaker 1: political comeback, Whether his deep support was massively underestimated, probably,
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  Speaker 1: Whether voters were ultimately turned off by past tweets from
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  Speaker 1: his opponent about canceling Thanksgiving. Probably that's true as well,
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  Speaker 1: and how polsters truly fumbled this one. That's all up
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  Speaker 1: for debate. What I do know to be true is
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  Speaker 1: that the outcome should prompt some humility and reflection. And
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  Speaker 1: how we're covering political races more listening to voters and
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  Speaker 1: less to the hot takes online, and god forbid, don't
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  Speaker 1: listen to the Calji prediction market anymore. And what is
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  Speaker 1: really important here is less how we got here, and
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  Speaker 1: we'll talk about that, but more about the path forward.
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  Speaker 1: So we want to spend plenty of time with David
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  Speaker 1: Crowley to talk about not just how we got here,
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  Speaker 1: but how he plans to win in November and what
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  Speaker 1: he would want to do as governor of one of
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  Speaker 1: these swinging estates in every presidential election. But before I
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  Speaker 1: talked with him with him, I wanted to share a
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  Speaker 1: few of the things about him. You may already know,
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  Speaker 1: but in case you don't, these are some of the
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  Speaker 1: things I've learned about him over the last twenty four hours.
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  Speaker 1: As a kid growing up in Milwaukee, Crowley's parents both
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  Speaker 1: battled addiction. His family was evicted from multiple homes. Crely
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  Speaker 1: has said his childhood inspired him to become a community
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  Speaker 1: organizer and later a state lawmaker. Even as a child,
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  Speaker 1: his family nicknamed him Governor because he said he wanted
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  Speaker 1: to quote serve my family before I actually sat down
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  Speaker 1: and started eating. Creley began his political career as a
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  Speaker 1: campaign organizer, as I mentioned, and later served in the
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  Speaker 1: Wisconsin State Legislature for three years before he was elected
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  Speaker 1: in twenty twenty to be the Milwaukee County Executive, the
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  Speaker 1: top official in the state's largest metro area, and if
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  Speaker 1: he is elected in November, he will become Wisconsin's very
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  Speaker 1: first black governor. Now, all of that has been and
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  Speaker 1: may be a part of Crowley's pitch as he embarks
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  Speaker 1: on a unity tour across Wisconsin where he plans to
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  Speaker 1: lay out his vision for the future of his party
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  Speaker 1: and for his state. Joining me now is David Crowley,
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  Speaker 1: Milwaukee County Executive and as of today, Democratic nominee for
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  Speaker 1: governor of Wisconsin. Said well, thanks for being here. I'm
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  Speaker 1: sure you're exhausted and taking this all in so I
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  Speaker 1: appreciate you taking the time, not a.
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  Speaker 2: Problem, and yes I am exhausted. I'm probably running over
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  Speaker 2: about three hours of sleep.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, there you go. Well, how was I mean this
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  Speaker 1: came as a shock to a lot of people, maybe
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  Speaker 1: not to you, probably not to your supporters. But how
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  Speaker 1: are you feeling about everything right now?
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  Speaker 2: Honestly, Jen, it's still surreal. You know. I still remember,
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  Speaker 2: you know, sitting down in the in my hotel room,
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  Speaker 2: in my suite with my family and literally biting guard nails,
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  Speaker 2: pacing constantly to see these numbers come in. But about
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  Speaker 2: one point thirty two o'clock, while I was hanging out
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  Speaker 2: not just with my family but also with Governor Evers
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  Speaker 2: and his wife, we see those numbers come and it
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  Speaker 2: got a little emotional, you know, because my mother I
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  Speaker 2: lost her about three years ago. She was my biggest
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  Speaker 2: supporter and she pushed me every single time that I
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  Speaker 2: got involved in and making my community better. And so
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  Speaker 2: I was still surre But I will tell you that
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  Speaker 2: the job isn't done. You know. We still have eighty
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  Speaker 2: four eighty three days left in this race to ultimately
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  Speaker 2: defeat a Maggi extremists and Congressman Tom Tiffany, to make
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  Speaker 2: sure that we can defeat Donald Trump's legacy moving forward
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  Speaker 2: if we don't need his brand of politics here in
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  Speaker 2: the state of Wisconsin, and looking forward to electing Democrats
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  Speaker 2: is up and down the ballot, and.
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  Speaker 1: I want to talk about the path forward here. I
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  Speaker 1: played earlier in the show a clip from I think
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  Speaker 1: it was from last night or this morning. You've been
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  Speaker 1: speaking a lot around your three hours of sleep as well,
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  Speaker 1: where you talked about what you thought this meant. There's
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  Speaker 1: been so many hot takes out there, and it's been
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  Speaker 1: framed as this kind of battle between the center and
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  Speaker 1: the left of the center, left of the party and progressives,
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  Speaker 1: between insiders and outsiders, progressives and moderates. But you've pushed
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  Speaker 1: back against that narrative. Again, I played it earlier. But
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  Speaker 1: what do you think the assessment gets wrong here?
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  Speaker 2: You know, I think what folks are getting wrong is
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  Speaker 2: that people people want to care, cares about the values.
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  Speaker 2: Do you share the same values? Can you build relationships?
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  Speaker 2: Are you authentic? And I think it's also important is
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  Speaker 2: what have you done, you know, when you're running for
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  Speaker 2: a seat like governors, Not just about the mission and
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  Speaker 2: the vision that you have for Democrats across this state.
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  Speaker 2: They want to know if you actually have the weather,
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  Speaker 2: with all the expertise, the relationships to actually deliver on
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  Speaker 2: their behalf. But the message that we've been focusing on
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  Speaker 2: is that we have to stop reacting. We've been reacting
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  Speaker 2: to Donald Trump and responding to Republicans to the point
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  Speaker 2: they've defined who we are as Democrats. And when you
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  Speaker 2: think about Governor Evers' entire tenure, he's been one of
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  Speaker 2: the best damn goalies we could have. So we've always
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  Speaker 2: had to play defense and we've forgot how to get
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  Speaker 2: off of our heels and play offense. And so you know,
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  Speaker 2: as we you know, come into this new football season,
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  Speaker 2: we need to make sure that we're throwing the ball
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  Speaker 2: down the field and actually scoring on behalf of the
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  Speaker 2: residents that call this place home.
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  Speaker 1: For people who are watching right now, who are just
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  Speaker 1: getting to know you, you have this really powerful story
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  Speaker 1: of what drove you to become a community organizer and
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  Speaker 1: public servant in the first place. You've talked about on
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  Speaker 1: the campaign trail, I highlighted some aspects of your background.
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  Speaker 1: What do you want people watching right now to know
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  Speaker 1: about who you are today, how your background will shape
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  Speaker 1: how you planned the government if you're elected.
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  Speaker 2: Well, I appreciate that, and you know, I had a
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  Speaker 2: rough you know, growing up, and a rough foundation. But
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  Speaker 2: that foundation, it doesn't necessarily define who or what your
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  Speaker 2: future will be now that foundation does it does help
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  Speaker 2: me of how I govern. That's one of the reasons
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  Speaker 2: why we've invested in affordable housing over fifty million dollars
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  Speaker 2: as well as into housing First. And because of that work,
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  Speaker 2: Markey County has been recognized of having the lowest uncocied
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  Speaker 2: home as count per capita than any community in America.
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  Speaker 2: You know, when we were fought fighting to bring back
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  Speaker 2: open YoY settlement funds, we invested those dollars back into
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  Speaker 2: the community because I know what my parents went through
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  Speaker 2: and seeing them with their struggle and understand how you
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  Speaker 2: know when you're kicking your a dick, it's a lifelong journey.
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  Speaker 2: And so because of that work, we reduce overdose by
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  Speaker 2: forty percent in just four short years. And so our
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  Speaker 2: government understanding that the struggle that many people are facing
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  Speaker 2: all across this state. It doesn't matter if you live
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  Speaker 2: in an urban, suburban, a rural community. You know, trauma
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  Speaker 2: doesn't have race affected. It doesn't matter about your socio
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  Speaker 2: economics so or what zip code you grew up in.
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  Speaker 2: And so with my background, I just want to make
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  Speaker 2: sure that when a tide rise, all the boats rise,
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  Speaker 2: because I was always told, if you don't have a
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  Speaker 2: seat at the table, you're on the menu. And so
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  Speaker 2: many communities across this state field like they've been on
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  Speaker 2: the menu, and it's my job to empower them and
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  Speaker 2: to include them throughout this process.