NBC News Chief Data Analyst Steve Kornacki experienced a moment of palpable frustration and amusement during a live election night broadcast when crucial election data from Milwaukee was found to be missing.
The incident occurred as results from the Wisconsin Democratic gubernatorial primary were being tallied. Roughly six hours into the livestream, around 1 a.m. ET, NBC News National Politics Reporter Ben Kamisar informed Kornacki that five of the nine flash drives containing absentee tallies from Milwaukee's central count facility had audit logs downloaded instead of election results. This human error by local election officials stalled the reporting process.
Following a brief period of silence, Kamisar explained that officials would need to return to the city location to retrieve the correct data, potentially restarting the entire process. Kornacki, visibly perplexed, inquired if they were "back to square one." Kamisar, still attempting to decipher the developing situation via closed captioning, confirmed that the process would indeed have to be restarted.
Kornacki's reaction, including a prolonged facepalm and a slight smile as he remarked on the "significant thing," was captured by viewers. The delay meant that the Associated Press could not call the race until 2:34 a.m. Wednesday. The outcome saw Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley narrowly defeat State Representative Francesca Hong, a result that defied earlier polling predictions.
As Kamisar confirmed the need to re-grab the memory sticks, Kornacki, after another moment of silence, asked, "Are we talking hours?" He then attempted a lighthearted remark about the lack of traffic at that hour, before burying his face in his hand in a gesture that combined disbelief and humor.
"How do I ask this artfully: Do we still have an audience?" Kornacki quipped before the stream concluded shortly after. Crowley ultimately secured 65,131 votes, or 43 percent, while Hong received 62,739 votes.