Wisconsin Democrats just got a preview of what happens when the party that brands itself the guardian of democracy runs its own primary. On Tuesday, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley (D-Wis.) pulled off what pollsters insisted was impossible, beating state Rep. Francesca Hong (D-Wis.), who was backed by the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), in the Democrat gubernatorial primary. RealClearPolitics, PPP, and Marquette all had Hong up by 18 to 22 points heading into election night, and her victory was seen as inevitable. Crowley’s victory has plenty of people asking questions, and now more have come up.
The trouble started as soon as the polls closed. USB drives carrying voter data went missing in multiple counties. A server outage slowed reporting across the state so badly that it became impossible to deny something bizarre was going on. But nothing beat the mess in Milwaukee, where election commission staff loaded the wrong files onto the USB drives Milwaukee uses to report results. Instead of vote totals, they downloaded audit logs. It took more than an hour to sort out.
We’ve seen this kind of mess before, where blue cities are very late reporting results compared to other areas, and that played out in Wisconsin on Tuesday as well. We’re expected to believe that’s just how it is because of how many votes need to be counted, but many suspect it’s more about how deep-blue cities like to see exactly how many votes they need before locking in a final number so they can generate the result they want. And on Tuesday, we saw an outcome so far removed from where the polls said the race was at, it’s hard not to wonder. Despite Hong’s 20+ lead in the polls, she lost by fewer than 3,300 votes, a mere 0.42%.
ICYMI: Election Night Chaos in Wisconsin Raises Some Uncomfortable F-Word Questions
Reporter A.J. Bayatpour dug into the USB drive issue and found photographic evidence that the drive’s export screen clearly read “audit-log export” before it ever left the building. That raises an obvious question: How does trained election staff miss a label sitting right on the screen in front of them?
SCOOP: Our cameras caught the moment Milwaukee elections staff screwed up.
While the city Election Commission says there was no way to see the wrong info was on the USB sticks bc it’s encrypted, it sure looks like someone could’ve caught what they were mistakenly exporting… pic.twitter.com/sXlOp6e5He
— A.J. Bayatpour (@AJBayatpour) August 13, 2026
State Rep. Scott Krug (R-Wis.) wants a legislative investigation into what’s happening at Milwaukee’s central count. He’s also eyeing a rule change that would let Milwaukee start processing absentee ballots the Monday before Election Day, something currently barred under Wisconsin law. Wisconsin is one of only six states with that restriction. But Krug isn’t pretending a calendar fix solves everything. He says the personnel and staffing problems at central count would remain even with a Monday head start, and Milwaukee city and county government need better training and better appointments across the board.
State Rep. Scott Krug (R-Rome) wants a legislative investigation into Milwaukee’s central count.
Would he lead an effort to allow Monday processing (WI is only one of 6 states not allowing it)?
“I’m still interested in Monday processing…but I need to know what the issues are” pic.twitter.com/sQMfzyv3Nu
— A.J. Bayatpour (@AJBayatpour) August 13, 2026
Bayatpour also asked Ann Jacobs, a past chair of the Wisconsin Elections Commission, whether Milwaukee’s election operations need tightening up. Jacobs wouldn’t fully commit, saying she couldn’t assess the staff’s budget and personnel limitations from the outside. But she agreed the procedures need fixing so incidents like this stop happening, and she noted that when she personally visited central count, the machines were locked, sealed, and visible to observers.
Focusing on Milwaukee, this is now the 3rd elections mishap in 3 years (unsealed machine ’24, ballot shortage ’25, wrong button ’26).
I asked @AnnJacobsMKE if the city has to tighten it up.
“I don’t know the limitations the Milwaukee Election Commission staff are working under” pic.twitter.com/jromkrkDkQ
— A.J. Bayatpour (@AJBayatpour) August 13, 2026
According to Bayatpour, this marks the third consecutive election cycle in which Milwaukee’s central count operation has run into trouble. How does this happen three times in a row? Remember, Florida cleaned up its act after the 2000 recount fiasco and has since become the gold standard for election administration in America. They count elections quickly and accurately. Milwaukee has had three chances to do the same and has blown every one of them. A system that keeps breaking the same way, in the same city, in favor of the same political machine, and never gets fixed, is functioning exactly as its overseers want it to.
Editor’s Note: The 2026 Midterms will determine the fate of President Trump’s America First agenda. Republicans must maintain control of both chambers of Congress.
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