NBC News national political correspondent Steve Kornacki was visibly stunned [1] Tuesday after Milwaukee County officials revealed an error involving vote data in Wisconsin’s gubernatorial primary.
The disclosure forced yet another delay in a closely watched contest that polling had suggested would be far less competitive.
Hong ultimately lost by less than one percent, despite several surveys showing her with a comfortable advantage before voters cast their ballots.
That dramatic polling miss became even more striking as election night stretched into a confusing late night counting spectacle.
During NBC News coverage, Kornacki was stationed at his familiar election board for the “Kornacki Cam” segment when the latest problem surfaced.
Milwaukee County officials announced that five flash drives contained botched voting data, leaving the network without the major update it had expected.
“Really? Really?” Kornacki muttered.
“So we’re just back to square one on this?”
WATCH:
!function(r,u,m,b,l,e){r._Rumble=b,r[b]||(r[b]=function(){(r[b]._=r[b]._||[]).push(arguments);if(r[b]._.length==1){l=u.createElement(m),e=u.getElementsByTagName(m)[0],l.async=1,l.src="https://rumble.com/embedJS/u1vds3"+(arguments[1].video?'.'+arguments[1].video:'')+"/?url="+encodeURIComponent(location.href)+"&args="+encodeURIComponent(JSON.stringify([].slice.apply(arguments))),e.parentNode.insertBefore(l,e)}})}(window, document, "script", "Rumble");
Rumble("play", {"video":"v7bxdem","div":"rumble_v7bxdem"});
The normally energetic numbers analyst appeared unsure how to process the news in real time.
After waiting roughly 90 minutes for Milwaukee’s decisive batch of votes, Kornacki suddenly had to explain that the promised information was not actually available.
“It really is coming down to this one giant update in Milwaukee, but man … we, we … waited 90 minutes for them, they did this whole procession, and then we find out there’s nothing on the sticks … I want you to know I hate, hate doing this to you because we’ve been … I know you’re here for results and we’ve come to the point where it’s like one thing away. I hope you understand that everyone here has been for a long time,” Kornacki said.
Kornacki looked directly into the camera and expressed disappointment that he would have to leave the broadcast without delivering final results.
Viewers had stayed with the network deep into the night, only to watch Milwaukee officials transform a routine vote update into another exercise in government confusion.
WATCH:
!function(r,u,m,b,l,e){r._Rumble=b,r[b]||(r[b]=function(){(r[b]._=r[b]._||[]).push(arguments);if(r[b]._.length==1){l=u.createElement(m),e=u.getElementsByTagName(m)[0],l.async=1,l.src="https://rumble.com/embedJS/u1vds3"+(arguments[1].video?'.'+arguments[1].video:'')+"/?url="+encodeURIComponent(location.href)+"&args="+encodeURIComponent(JSON.stringify([].slice.apply(arguments))),e.parentNode.insertBefore(l,e)}})}(window, document, "script", "Rumble");
Rumble("play", {"video":"v7bxddk","div":"rumble_v7bxddk"});
The following day, Kornacki acknowledged the unexpectedly large audience that had followed the prolonged livestream.
He also joked about the exhausting wait that kept both the network crew and political viewers awake into the early morning hours.
“Thank you so much to everyone who joined in for our livestream last night. I couldn’t believe how many of you were right there with me as Milwaukee kept us waiting (and waiting) into the wee hours. I hope you got at least a little sleep!” Kornacki wrote on X.
Thank you *so* much to everyone who joined in for our livestream last night. I couldn’t believe how many of you were right there with me as Milwaukee kept us waiting (and waiting) into the wee hours. I hope you got at least a little sleep!
— Steve Kornacki (@SteveKornacki) August 12, 2026 [2]
The counting mess was only part of the surprise surrounding the race.
Several polls had placed Hong ahead by more than 20 points before Tuesday, yet voters delivered a result separated by less than a single percentage point.
Wisconsin was not the only state where Democratic primary polling appeared detached from the final outcome.
In Michigan, surveys suggested Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El Sayed would defeat Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens by double digits, but his actual margin was only one point.
The results offered another warning about the reliability of political surveys, particularly in volatile Democratic primaries.
Pollsters forecast comfortable victories, while actual voters produced nail biting finishes that sent television analysts scrambling for explanations and election officials searching for functioning data.
The Wisconsin contest also carried broader significance for the Democratic Party’s internal power struggle.
The party establishment had been attempting to regain control after losing several important primaries to Democratic Socialists of America candidates and other contenders positioned further to the left.
DSA aligned candidates recently scored victories in New York, Colorado, and Michigan after receiving support from independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez.
Their success increased pressure on establishment Democrats already struggling to contain the party’s activist wing.
Sanders and Ocasio Cortez, however, were notably absent from the campaign trail for Hong.
That absence stood out as the Democratic establishment pushed back against the socialist faction and secured a narrow victory that polling had portrayed as practically guaranteed.
For Kornacki, the night became a public lesson in the limits of election night certainty.
Fancy graphics, confident polling, and hours of analysis could not overcome five ‘faulty’ flash drives and Milwaukee’s inability to produce the numbers everyone had been promised.