Congressman claims Milwaukee ballot drop swung election, but real-time totals show that's not true
MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- A mishap at Milwaukee's central count location delayed the reporting of the city's results in last week's primary election, and it has since fueled a fresh round of claims the Democratic primary for governor was "stolen" via Milwaukee's absentee ballots.
Congressman Derrick Van Orden, a Republican representing western Wisconsin, was among the most prominent voices claiming the late-night absentee drop swung the race toward Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley.
However, those claims do not hold up against the real-time reporting of election results last Tuesday.
Milwaukee elections officials have said a staffer pressed the wrong button on five different vote-counting machines, exporting audit logs instead of the election results. CBS 58 cameras showed how workers could have noticed in the moment the wrong info was exporting, but they didn't catch it.
At an event Friday in Lake Hallie, Van Orden told the Eau Claire Leader-Telegram State Rep. Francesca Hong lost the razor-thin primary because of Milwaukee's late absentee results drop.
“Francesca Hong was leading in that race, and then at 2:30 in the morning, all of a sudden she lost to Crowley," Van Orden said. "They couldn’t find 33,000 votes and he won by 3,000."
CBS 58 made multiple interview requests through Van Orden's spokesperson. That spokesperson said Van Orden rejected those requests and will continue to do so until a CBS 58 reporter apologizes for a social media post last week about his office not responding to an interview request made on Thursday.
Real-time election data from last Tuesday show Crowley was already ahead before Milwaukee's absentee results were posted by the county clerk at 1:20 a.m.
Those results showed Crowley led Hong by a little more than 2,100 votes before Milwaukee's absentee ballots were reported. Once those approximately 28,000 votes were added, Crowley's lead grew to a little more than 3,300 votes.
Ann Jacobs, a Democratic appointee to the Wisconsin Elections Commission who is from Milwaukee, said she did not believe Milwaukee's mishap should prompt intervention from the state.
"It's an unfortunate error," Jacobs told CBS 58 last Thursday. "Is it a violation of any election law? I'm not really seeing it. Obviously, someone may file a complaint, and we may have to consider that."
Jacobs had stronger words for Van Orden when asked about the congressman claims, which he made on social media several times following the election.
"Congressman Van Orden must be not much of a reader or a little slow," Jacobs said. "Because we've talked about Milwaukee's late-night reporting of results every election."
Questions for Milwaukee
CBS 58 asked a spokesperson for Mayor Cavalier Johnson if the city will identify the elections worker responsible for the mishap and whether that person will face any discipline.
The spokesperson at City Hall said the mayor's office will not release that information and added the city's election commission is still reviewing what happened last week and determining what procedures and training aspects should change.
A spokesperson for the Milwaukee Election Commission did not rule out an interview with Gutierrez but said she was not available to take questions Tuesday.
State Rep. Scott Krug (R-Rome) has called for the Legislature to review Milwaukee's election administration. Last week's mistake followed a ballot shortage in the 2025 state Supreme Court election and the failure to secure the door on a vote-counting machine in the 2024 presidential election, leading to the city recounting each of its absentee ballots.
"There's a simple checklist. There's simple training," Krug said. "There's time in between August and November to make sure we get all of our stuff in line and all of our ducks in a row."
Krug did not make any claims of Tuesday's election being stolen or influenced by the Milwaukee central count mistake. He distanced himself from Van Orden's comments when asked about them.
"Listen, we're all individuals. That's the beautiful part about being a Republican, is we're all independent thinkers," Krug said. "We all have our own wavelengths of figuring out how things work and how they don't, so I can't comment on somebody else's tweets or somebody else's comments.
"I can tell you what the solutions are, and it's making sure the right personnel and right training is in place for November."