Just the other day, David Crowley admitted his campaign for governor isn't really about helping Wisconsinites. He's not concerned about affordability (his tax record already proved that), he doesn't want to bring jobs to the state or improve Wisconsin's failing schools. Instead, Crowley is running for governor to "destroy the MAGA legacy forever."
"This election is about making sure that we move forward together," Crowley said. "Because we're going to need one another. Because our job is not just to defeat Tom Tiffany and get a Democratic trifecta. It's to defeat the MAGA agenda and the MAGA legacy forever."
So it should concern every Wisconsin conservative that Crowley spent this past weekend campaigning with Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin, who said in no uncertain terms that she wants to use lawfare to punish Trump administration members and discourage young conservatives from working for Republicans down the road.
David Crowley spent part of this past weekend campaigning with Sen. Elissa Slotkin just days after she expressed a desire to prosecute the Trump Administration to deter young people from working for it.
— The Heartland Post (@HeartlandPostWI) October 20, 2026
Learn about Slotkin's extreme takes and how @JustinEPhillips demands answers… pic.twitter.com/Fi71rinlqM
The Democrats aren't even hiding their plans to weaponize government anymore, which tells me they think it's either a) a winning issue in these midterms or that b) voters won't ultimately care.
We purple Midwestern states stick together. It was such a pleasure to be back in Madison supporting @DavidCrowleyWI — the next governor of Wisconsin. pic.twitter.com/IhPy1aAvNs
— Elissa Slotkin (@ElissaSlotkin) October 18, 2026
As a mom with politically active sons, I am absolutely concerned about the type of state my sons will live in if David Crowley wins in two weeks. It sure seems to me like "destroying the MAGA legacy" means engaging in massive lawfare against Wisconsin conservatives.
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That already happened here, by the way. Back during and after the failed 2012 recall of then-Gov. Scott Walker, Democrat District Attorneys in Wisconsin opened a secret investigation into Wisconsin conservatives claiming Walker's campaign illegally coordinated with outside conservative groups.
Several prominent conservative activists, including Eric O'Keefe who was the director and treasurer of Wisconsin Club for Growth had their homes raided by law enforcement. Armed officers conducted multiple raids, using floodlights to illuminate properties, and seizing business documents, computers, phones, and other electronic equipment. During the searches, targets were prevented from contacting attorneys.
This "John Doe" investigation — it was sealed — barred its targets from even speaking of the investigation publicly. Here's how Guy Benson covered it in 2014:
When the partisan prosecutors presented their "evidence" in a closed proceeding, they were swiftly thrown out of state court with their subpoenas quashed for lack of probable cause. Then, when a conservative activist targeted by "John Doe" sued the prosecutors for abuse of power and violating his rights, a federal judge emphatically sided with him, ordering the investigation be shut down, and paving the way for the retaliatory lawsuit to proceed.
...
Here's the bottom line: The just-released court documents that prompted exhilarated hyperventilating from the media entailed accusations from partisan prosecutors that were (a) reviewed by state and federal judges and (b) summarily tossed out of court. Indeed, a federal judge determined prosecutors' conduct in the matter had been so improper that a civil rights lawsuit against was "likely to succeed on their claim that the defendants‘ investigation violates their rights under the First Amendment, such that the investigation was commenced and conducted without a reasonable expectation of obtaining a valid conviction.” That's an unambiguous and devastating rebuke.
As Benson notes, the media not only misrepresented the investigations, but swept them under the rug when courts ruled against the rogue District Attorneys. I remember that whole thing unfolding and the rumor was that at least one District Attorney engaged this egregious lawfare because his wife was a school teacher who cried about the passage of Act 10 (the legislation that prompted the failed recall effort against Walker).
It's scary to think the tears of a DA's wife are enough to try and throw people behind bars.
The Wisconsin State Supreme Court ordered the investigation shut down in 2015. But the message was clear: we will target you. Now Crowley is setting the stage for another John Doe-style persecution of Wisconsin conservatives. It seems.
Voters in Wisconsin – who elected Donald Trump in 2024 — have a right to work for, nominate, and elect Republicans. Democrats in the state, including David Crowley, seem to think that's a bad thing bordering on criminal behavior. His campaigning with Slotkin this weekend and his refusal to condemn her statements shows that "destroying MAGA" looks a lot like the lawfare already waged against Wisconsin conservatives.