Wisconsin Democrats will decide Tuesday whether to entrust their bid to hold the governor’s mansion to socialist Francesca Hong, putting the progressive movement’s growing strength to its most consequential battleground test yet.
Hong, a 37-year-old state representative from Madison, heads into the Democratic gubernatorial primary as the candidate to beat after an improbable ascent that has alarmed some establishment Democrats.
A DSA GOVERNOR? FRANCESCA HONG TESTS WHETHER SOCIALISM CAN WIN STATEWIDE IN WISCONSIN
The contest comes one week after progressive Abdul el Sayed captured Michigan’s Democratic Senate nomination and amid a string of victories for socialists around the country. But unlike many of the movement’s breakthroughs in deep-blue cities and congressional districts, Hong is seeking to lead the ticket in a state President Donald Trump carried by fewer than 30,000 votes in 2024.
That distinction has transformed the closing days of the primary into a fight not only over who should succeed retiring Gov. Tony Evers (D-WI), but whether the Democratic Party’s leftward insurgency can translate its primary success into a statewide coalition capable of winning in November. Evers has made clear where he stands.
After initially remaining neutral, the two-term governor endorsed Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, who returned to the race last month and has emerged as the leading alternative to Hong.
“Tonight I’m not only asking for you to vote for David and make a plan to vote on Tuesday if you haven’t already, I’m also asking you to do one more thing for me,” Evers told supporters Sunday in Madison. “Between now and Tuesday night, I need you to contact at least five friends you know, no matter where they live in Wisconsin, what party they belong to, or who you think they are voting for, and tell them why you’re voting for David and ask them to do this as well.”
Evers has been equally explicit about his concerns over November. Asked by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel whether Hong could defeat Republican Rep. Tom Tiffany (R-WI), Evers said “probably not,” while describing Hong as “an extraordinarily talented person.”
Hong entered the race without the statewide profile enjoyed by some of her Democratic rivals. Yet the former chef and single mother has watched better-known contenders fall away while building a commanding advantage in public polling. State Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez and former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes have both ended their campaigns, leaving Crowley as the most prominent candidate standing between Hong and the nomination.
A late July Marquette Law School poll found Hong leading the Democratic field with 38% support. Barnes, who was still running when the survey was conducted, stood at 16%, while Crowley received 7%. Roughly 34% of Democratic primary voters were undecided.
Joe Zepecki, a Democratic strategist based in Wisconsin, described Hong as the “prohibitive favorite” heading into Tuesday and said it would now amount to an upset if Crowley prevailed.
“The reality in a multi-way primary is those undecideds almost never break all to one candidate,” Zepecki told the Washington Examiner.
Hong argues her campaign is building a coalition by reaching voters who have abandoned politics.
“Not just the message; it’s the messenger,” Hong told supporters Friday in Superior, Wisconsin, pointing to the campaign’s claim that volunteers have knocked on 120,000 doors before the primary.
“I have people sending me messages who say I haven’t voted in the last six elections, and this is the first one I’m coming back,” Hong said.
She has pledged to “legalize weed,” “raise wages,” and “protect freedoms,” while arguing that her campaign’s organizing model could ultimately strengthen the Democratic Party.
“This is what coalition building has to look like,” Hong said. “We may not have organized together before. We may not even politically identify all the same.”
Zepecki cautioned against interpreting a Hong victory simply as evidence that democratic socialism is expanding its appeal in battleground states. Instead, he argued her rise reflects a broader frustration with traditional politics and candidates.
“I think the thing that has benefited Hong the most is that she is so genuinely different,” Zepecki said. “It is, I think, more about that and less about the label that she uses, that others use to describe her politics.”
Her campaign has paired that outsider image with an unconventional spending strategy. Rather than stockpiling money for a traditional late advertising blitz, Hong spent aggressively early in the race, particularly online and on organizing.
“They threw out the old playbook,” Zepecki said, arguing that the strategy helped Hong develop “a genuine ground game and thousands of volunteers who are out talking to people and organizing for her.”
But the prospect of Hong becoming the nominee has exposed concerns that extend beyond Wisconsin. Democratic strategist Steve Schale warned that some Democratic donors could simply direct their money elsewhere if Hong wins Tuesday.
“If Hong wins the race in Wisconsin, there are just donors who aren’t going to want to give to that,” Schale said.
Schale argued candidates such as Hong may have to rely more heavily on grassroots fundraising because traditional Democratic money could gravitate toward other competitive races.
“Are you going to want to go write a check to Hong in Wisconsin? Probably not,” Schale said. “I’m not going to be running out to give her money.”
Other Wisconsin Democrats reject the idea that nominating Hong would effectively hand Republicans the governorship.
“I don’t buy that for one single second,” Zepecki said.
He argued a general election against Tiffany would be shaped less by Hong’s years-old social media posts than by the national political environment and voters’ economic concerns.
“The next 84 days are not going to be about years-old tweets,” Zepecki said. “It’s going to be about the national political environment, the cost of living, and whether we can actually hire a different type of governor.”
Zepecki predicted the political environment would make Tiffany’s campaign “the equivalent of running uphill with an 800-pound anvil on your back.”
Hong’s own fundraising demonstrates the financial challenge awaiting whoever emerges Tuesday. Crowley entered the final stretch with about $463,000 in cash on hand, compared with roughly $406,000 for Hong.
Tiffany is running unopposed for his party’s nomination. Republicans have increasingly sought to make Hong the face of a socialist movement they contend is far outside Wisconsin’s political mainstream.
Old social media posts in which Hong advocated defunding the police and criticized Thanksgiving have resurfaced as her standing in the race has risen. She faced additional scrutiny after struggling to directly answer a CNN question about whether she wanted to “cancel Thanksgiving,” before later saying it was actually her favorite holiday.
“Just so everyone knows where I stand, I won’t cancel Thanksgiving as governor. Figured it was worth mentioning again,” Tiffany wrote on social media.
Hong has acknowledged that some of her previous comments went too far.
“I had some hot takes, some bad takes on Twitter, but when you’re a business owner running a restaurant during COVID, trying to pay bills as a student, you’re putting feelings out there into the world,” Hong said during a campaign stop in Sheboygan. “But I’ve evolved, I’ve learned. I think it’s more dishonest not to learn.”
She has also sought to distance herself from the Democratic Socialists of America’s national agenda.
“I do not support the full platform of the national DSA, and I am not endorsed by DSA National,” Hong said during a recent debate. Hong said she is “not here to govern by slogan” and acknowledged that a governor does not have the power to defund the police.
The organization’s national platform supports extending voting rights to permanent residents, publicly financing elections, and expanding social programs such as Medicare, along with more sweeping proposals to abolish borders, prisons, and the U.S. Senate.
“These people are insane,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) wrote in a July 27 post on X in response to a Fox News interview with DSA co-chair Megan Romer.
The argument over Hong is unfolding as socialists enjoy a string of electoral victories. Zohran Mamdani’s election as mayor of New York City last year was followed by Katie Wilson’s mayoral win in Seattle. Janeese Lewis George is favored to become Washington, D.C.’s next mayor, while Nithya Raman is challenging Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass. Progressive insurgents have also toppled veteran Democratic House members in New York and Colorado.
Wisconsin is different. Democrats have a chance this fall to achieve something they have not accomplished in a generation: unified control of state government. Liberals gained a majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court during Evers’s tenure, while new legislative maps have given Democrats a more competitive path to winning both chambers.
Anthony Chergosky, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, said Democrats have spent more than a decade working toward unified control of state government.
“For the party to nominate a democratic socialist after years of waiting for their chance at full control of state government, it would represent a major gamble on their part,” Chergosky said.