He grew up in a household where evictions, hunger and a potential electricity shutoff were concerns, and he says Wisconsin government needs to focus on the costs families can barely afford.Milwaukee County Executive and Democratic candidate David Crowley is running to succeed Gov. Tony Evers. (REUTERS)Crowley, 40, is Milwaukee County’s executive and previously served in the Wisconsin Assembly.
His father was an electrician and his mother worked in the service industry, but both struggled with addiction and mental-health issues.Crowley has described not knowing whether he would come home from school to find the family home intact or their belongings on the street. That experience informs a more recent personal milestone: Crowley dropped out of college years ago but finished his degree while serving as county executive, earning a bachelor’s from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 2024.Deep DiveHe has described the decision as a lesson for his three daughters.
He is married to Ericka Wright, who with him is raising those three girls.Also Read: Amy Acton bets on her experience as state's health director in Ohio Governor race against Vivek Ramaswamy us midtermsCrowley's political career and focus on affordabilityHis campaign’s economic program, which he calls Badger Basics, is focused on public education, affordable health care, childcare, housing, higher wages and infrastructure. He has proposed raising Wisconsin’s minimum wage to $20 and wants government to be targeting costs families with working members have to bear.Data centers have become one of the most distinctive aspects of his platform, but Crowley says communities should have the final say on whether one is built.If they approve one, developers will have to provide renewable energy, pay for all infrastructure and grid upgrades, give to the Focus on Energy program, use union labor and protect water and the environment.Also Read: Katie Hobbs: From social worker to Arizona governorHis trade argument is closely tied to affordability, as Crowley has attacked Republican opponent Tom Tiffany over his support for Trump’s tariffs, arguing that they are hurting Wisconsin farmers and manufacturers.
He has similarly blamed the economic fallout from the Iran war for rising fuel and diesel prices and has proposed eliminating Wisconsin’s minimum markup law on gasoline.Public safety becomes a key campaign issueCrowley also campaigns heavily on public safety, pointing to investments in Milwaukee County’s courts, law enforcement and efforts to prevent crime before it happens. Republicans have attacked his record in Milwaukee, making crime one of the central fault lines of the campaign.
Crowley seeks to make history with statewide bidHis candidacy is significant beyond policy, Crowley would become Wisconsin’s first Black governor if elected, after becoming the first African American to lead Milwaukee County.The biggest challenge is translating a Milwaukee political identity into a statewide coalition. With Tony Evers retiring, Crowley is trying to convince voters far beyond Wisconsin’s largest city that his personal story and his definition of affordability reflects their lives, too.Ashka Singh is an undergraduate student of English Literature at Miranda House, University of Delhi, with an interest in the spaces between what is said and what is felt, and in the stories that acquire new meanings through different eyes.
A recipient of national-level recognition from the Government of India, she has also been recognised twice for writing at the Amity Literary Meet. Her writing moves between the intimate and the social, often returning to questions of patriarchy, womanhood, relationships, and the invisible structures that shape life.
Alongside her practice, she works with the editorial team of the Miranda House Students’ Union and leads content for AAVYA, the Animal Welfare Society of Miranda House. She finds herself most at home in poetry.
This sensibility extends to her interest in cinema, psychology, music, and the layered aesthetics of Indian cultural traditions. She has a fondness for the unhurried beauty of ghazals, the cadence of shayari, and the lingering soul of a qawwali.
Beyond the newsroom, she is likely to be found in the company of animals, particularly dogs - an affection she considers far less complicated than most human affairs. For Ashka, to write is to notice, to feel, and to remain truthful to both.Read More