The New York Times (8/12/26) reported that Wisconsin’s outgoing Democratic governor “helped Mr. Crowley raise money from individual donors and labor unions in the final weeks of the campaign”—and failed to mention the $3.6 million in dark money spending attacking Hong.

In the Democratic gubernatorial primary in Wisconsin, David Crowley, the candidate backed by the party establishment, outspent socialist insurgent Francesca Hong by 8-to-1—and eked out a 0.4 percentage point victory. That’s a “Stunning Victory,” according to USA Today (8/12/26)—or a “Stunning Loss” for Hong that “Shows the Limits of the Left,” in the New York Times’ telling (8/12/26).

The subhead of the Times piece, by Kellen Browning and Julie Bosman, hopefully speculated that “Hong’s defeat…may have shown the democratic socialist wave cannot reach beyond urban centers.”

“Left-Wing Surge Stalls in Wisconsin,” announced a Wall Street Journal news article (8/12/26). “Socialist Fever Breaks,” declared Axios (8/12/26), crediting Crowley with “dealing a blow to the progressive left’s momentum.”

“Democratic Establishment Roars Back as David Crowley Clinches Wisconsin Primary,” was a headline on CNN.com (8/12/26). “Another underperformance for the left,” a subhead sniffed—with CNN‘s Aaron Blake and Eric Bradner citing Abdul El-Sayed’s “very narrow margin” of victory in Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary (FAIR.org, 8/7/26) as evidence that “some voters might be gun-shy about…candidates who might struggle to win in the general election.” CNN didn’t mention that both Hong and El-Sayed were outspent by 8-to-1.

Politico (8/12/26) said Hong’s defeat “revealed limits to the far left’s power—and is undercutting the narrative of an emerging insurgency”—though the headline claimed that “Even Some Progressives Are Happy About Hong’s Loss,” apparently referring to the ones who don’t like power. (Allegedly progressive operatives “granted anonymity to speak candidly” told Politico they “want the movement to avoid missteps.”)

Meanwhile, one state over, in Minnesota, progressive Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan handily defeated right-leaning “New Democrat” Rep. Angie Craig, 59% to 39%, in the Democratic Senate primary. Flanagan, though not herself a socialist, was endorsed by prominent socialist figures like Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Craig’s campaign was backed by four times as much money as Flanagan’s—$19.9 million versus $4.7 million—with Craig’s funds coming largely from untraceable dark money (New York Times, 8/11/26).

Neither Flanagan’s decisive victory nor Craig’s loss appeared to stun anyone in corporate media. Indeed, some journalists seemed so excited to announce the good news from Wisconsin that they hardly seemed to notice that Minnesota was having a primary at all.

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