What now after unprecedented shake-up in Wisconsin's Democratic governor's race?

Editor's Note: This story has been updated to provide more clarity about Gov. Evers position on endorsing a candidate.

An unprecedented week in Wisconsin politics has shaken up the Democratic primary for governor. Sara Rodriguez dropped out Friday, and Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley jumped back into the race Saturday.

Crowley's return comes with a significant boost: an endorsement from Gov. Tony Evers. Evers still has good polling numbers and potentially goodwill with Democratic voters, giving Crowley access to the governor's base and supporters.

But the endorsement also carries risk. Evers had previously signaled he would stay neutral in the race. In July of last year, Evers indicated “I'll never say never, but I want to make sure who the rest of the candidates are before I even make that decision.”

In a post on X Saturday endorsing David Crowley, Evers said: “I have indicated I did not plan to endorse anyone in the race for governor because I know each of the candidates, and I wanted them to have the opportunity to make their case to Wisconsinites first, just like I did. “

Democratic voters may question what changed — and whether Evers' move will signal concerns with the other candidates, including Mandela Barnes and Joel Brennan, both of whom previously worked with Evers.

Crowley himself acknowledged he first dropped out because he did not think he was going to be the nominee at that time.

A new Marquette Law School poll is expected Wednesday, but it will offer only a partial picture of the race. Charles Franklin, who has conducted the Marquette poll for more than a decade, confirmed the poll was not in the field in time to capture Crowley's return, so the poll will not have numbers about Crowley.

The poll will show what voters were saying about Rodriguez before her campaign imploded, raising the question of where her supporters may go now that she is out. Crowley had endorsed Rodriguez when he first dropped out of the race nearly two weeks ago.

The poll will also provide a look at where the remaining candidates — Barnes, Brennan, Francesca Hong and Kelda Roys — stood with voters, and who the perceived front-runner or front-runners are.

Watch: What now after unprecedented shake-up in Wisconsin's Democratic governor's race?

Meanwhile, early absentee and mail-in voting has already begun, and more than 71,000 people have already voted early by mail in Wisconsin. Roughly 30% of that vote is from Milwaukee and Dane counties, the two largest Democratic counties in the state.

Voters who have already mailed in their absentee ballots cannot change their vote. Earlier this month, the bipartisan Wisconsin Elections Commission voted 4-2 to issue new guidance eliminating the option to change a vote simply because a candidate dropped out.

That option had previously been available and came up during the 2022 U.S. Senate Democratic primary, when several candidates dropped out before primary day to help Barnes secure the nomination.

Paulina Gutierrez, who runs the City of Milwaukee's elections, said her office has seen a "steady stream" of calls, emails and in-person inquiries from voters asking about the policy change.

Primary Election Day is August 11th.
https://myvote.wi.gov/en-us/

This story was reported on-air by Charles Benson and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

It’s about time to watch on your time. Stream local news and weather 24/7 by searching for “TMJ4” on your device.

Available for download on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and more.

Report a typo or error