Crowley confirms old social media account in NBC News report, but denies writing inflammatory posts

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- There's another twist in the race for Wisconsin governor as a years-old social media account connected to David Crowley has resurfaced. 

An NBC News report Wednesday afternoon details several inflammatory messages. The report says the Crowley campaign denies he wrote them. 

From 2010 to 2014, a twitter account using the fake name “Dirt McGirk” was registered to David Crowley's email address.

Crowley’s campaign acknowledged the account was his but told us he shared it with 10-12 other people, and “He did not write or post the problematic content in question.”

It’s the latest turn in a whirlwind campaign.

UW-La Crosse political science professor Dr. Anthony Cherkasky told us, “Voters have a lot on their plate, right now. Because the campaign is changing so rapidly. Lots of new information about the candidates is coming to light.”

One of the posts read “For those who don’t know it’s dc aka David.”

Mostly in 2010, the account posted several messages that include derogatory LGBTIQ references, as well as derogatory messages about women and race.

A separate statement from Crowley himself said, “The people who know me will be the first to tell you that I would never say these things. I strongly condemn the language used in these posts from a decade and a half ago.”

The report comes just days after Crowley jumped back into an already tumultuous Democratic primary race for governor.

With so much going on in a short amount of time, Chergosky told us, “What might have been a major issue a couple months ago could be here today, gone tomorrow.”

And yet, there are still lots of undecided voters, according to the Marquette Law poll that came out the same day.

Chergosky said, “So you have lots of voters who are rapidly assessing these candidates, so any news story that paints a candidate in a negative light is not going to be a welcome development.”

With Sara Rodriguez's exit and Crowley's re-entry into the race, “Now, all of a sudden, everything is happening all at once," Chergosky said. "So I can understand if voters are feeling overwhelmed with all the activity.”

We reached out to the other campaigns for reaction. Francesca Hong's team had no comment; no others have responded. Nor has Governor Evers' office, who endorsed Crowley when he re-entered the race.