Democratic Milwaukee County leader David Crowley joins the race for Wisconsin governor

MADISON Wis AP The top-elected official in Milwaukee County who rose out of poverty in one of the state s poorest neighborhoods launched a bid for Wisconsin governor on Tuesday saying his background and experience in office make him uniquely prepared for the job Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley joins the battleground state s Lt Gov Sara Rodriguez as the two highest profile Democratic candidates in the race to replace Gov Tony Evers who is retiring after two terms The race is open with no incumbent running for the first time since Crowley is vying to become the state s first Black governor while Rodriguez would be the first woman elected to the post There are two communicated Republicans with several others in both parties considering getting in The primary is months away in August Crowley recounted The Associated Press in an interview Monday that he wants to be a governor for all of us focusing on lowering costs for families affordable vitality care and housing and fully funding general schools I understand the experiences of what multiple families are going through Crowley commented It s really about showing up for people and that s what people want Crowley grew up in the ZIP code which a University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee research revealed was the majority incarcerated ZIP code in the country with a majority of men who lived there having spent time behind bars The area is also known for high rates of poverty a high concentration of vacant lots and poor wellbeing care Crowley leans into his background in his launch video highlighting how his family was once homeless in Milwaukee but he rose to become a society organizer and was elected to the state Assembly in at age He served until the middle of when he was elected as executive of Milwaukee County the state s largest county He was the first Black person to hold that job and also the youngest at age Three years ago Crowley started pursuing a college degree at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and graduated in December all while serving as county executive My upbringing has really given me the guiding principles of how I govern Crowley noted That s why I stress being the governor for all of us I know what its like to struggle I know what it s like to be poor Both Crowley and Rodriguez have also targeted President Donald Trump early in the governor s race In his launch video Crowley commented that Trump s chaos and cruelty means that the Wisconsin that we cherish will perish unless we unite and fight back Rodriguez called Trump a maniac in her launch video Democrats are hoping to hold on to the governor s office as they also eye flipping majority control of the state Legislature which Republicans have held since Crowley is one of several younger Democratic candidates looking at replacing Evers who is Rodriguez is and another likely candidate state Sen Kelda Roys is Former Lt Gov Mandela Barnes who is also mulling a bid is Attorney General Josh Kaul is also considering a run On the Republican side Washington County Executive Josh Schoemann and suburban Milwaukee businessman Bill Berrien are the only broadcasted candidates Others including U S Rep Tom Tiffany and state Senate President Mary Felzkowski are considering running Tiffany has indicated that he will announce his decision later this month Felzkowski explained last week that she would not run if Tiffany gets into the race and she was undecided about a bid if he declined Source