Wisconsin's Democratic primary for governor remains too close to call following Tuesday's vote, with election officials citing delays in two key counties. Francesca Hong, a democratic socialist, addressed her supporters just after midnight, acknowledging the uncalled race. She trailed Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley by less than a percentage point as absentee ballots from Milwaukee County awaited official entry.
Milwaukee County Clerk George Christenson announced issues with downloading absentee ballots at the City of Milwaukee's Central Count location. Paulina Gutiérrez, executive director of the Milwaukee Election Commission, identified the problem as human error. Gutiérrez said five of the nine audit logs were downloaded instead of the actual results before ballots moved to the Milwaukee County Election Commission.
The Milwaukee Election Commission plans to return to the Central Count location in Bay View to re-download the correct results. Milwaukee Police will escort election staff during this process. Gutiérrez said the new download will allow staff to compare results and complete the count.
Further south, Green County also reported delays in transmitting its election results. The county's election equipment vendor, Liberty Vote, confirmed that Green County's server and its results reporting program are not communicating, leaving transmitted results in encrypted files that county staff cannot access.
Green County officials said complete unofficial election results may not be available until Wednesday. About 28 percent of the county's results have been tallied, showing Crowley with a lead of about 13 points in that partial count.
The Democratic gubernatorial primary featured four candidates: Hong, Crowley, Kelda Roys and Joel Brennan. Hong entered the primary season as a frontrunner, but Crowley mounted a late campaign push to attract moderate and undecided voters across the state.
The Republican primary for governor proceeded without issue. U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany secured an easy victory over challenger Andy Manske, who had not held previous political office and polled in the single digits throughout the campaign.
