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WISCONSIN’S DEM ESTABLISHMENT IS SCRAMBLING TO STOP A DEMOCRATIC
SOCIALIST TUESDAY  
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Irie Sentner, Meredith Lee Hill
August 9, 2026
Politico
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_ Francesca Hong says she can appeal to a wide coalition in November.
Her detractors worry the democratic socialist will lose the crucial
battleground race. _

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Francesca Hong interacts with
supporters and volunteers before they canvass in Oshkosh, Wisconsin,
August 8, 2026, Jamie Kelter Davis for POLITICO

 

KENOSHA, Wisconsin —The progressive movement’s midterms march has
arrived in Wisconsin, where a democratic socialist is forcing
establishment Democrats to mount an all-out, last-ditch effort to stop
her.

State Rep. Francesca Hong is the front-runner to become the Democratic
gubernatorial nominee, fueled by a populist campaign tapping into
voters’ cost of living concerns. David Crowley, the Milwaukee County
Executive backed by outgoing Gov. Tony Evers, has emerged as the top
candidate trying to cut off Hong’s bid.

Ahead of Tuesday’s primary, electability was top of mind for voters
and both candidates as they raced to prove they could build the
widest, strongest coalition against presumptive Republican nominee Tom
Tiffany.

Crowley and Evers have been barnstorming the swing state over the past
week, warning a vote for Hong risks losing the governor’s mansion in
November to Tiffany, a hard-right member of the House Freedom Caucus
backed by President Donald Trump.

“You know, it’s the only time that I know that the governor —
Tony Evers — the Republican Governors Association and Turning Point
USA have ever been on the same page: in thinking that Francesca Hong
is the best candidate to lose this race,” Crowley said in an
interview at a local tavern in Sheboygan on Friday.

Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate David Crowley greets people during a
campaign stop at Urbane restaurant in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, on Aug. 7.
| Joshua Lott for POLITICO

Crowley, left, speaks with Blast Soft Serve ice cream shop owner Jamie
Evans, center, and Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers during a campaign stop in
Sheboygan. | Joshua Lott for POLITICO

Hong rejects those warnings. Speaking to voters at events across the
state, Hong argues Democratic voters are fed up with the establishment
ahead of November — and that she can appeal to a wide array of
Democrats, Republicans and people who don’t feel represented by
either party.

“We have to take this moment, a movement moment, and be bold with
transformative change, and build the actual big tent that we can and
we must be as Democrats,” Hong told a crowd of about 50 people
gathered at a senior community center in deep-red Siren.

Hong, a 37-year-old former chef and single mother who represents the
bluest district in the state assembly, has charted a remarkably rapid
rise in a purple state that Trump won by just shy of 30,000 votes in
2024. She launched her campaign as a long shot, with far less name
recognition than other Democrats in the race like Lt. Gov. Sara
Rodriguez and former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes. Both of them have since
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out
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And despite being at a consistent fundraising disadvantage — Hong
still has not put out a single television ad
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— the progressive has maintained wide leads in public polling.

But Hong’s campaign has also faced intense scrutiny over a string of
controversial past social media posts, including advocating for
defunding the police
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and railing against Thanksgiving
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She was later slammed for being unable to give a straightforward
answer to CNN
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about whether she would “cancel Thanksgiving.”

Following those missteps, Hong’s team has clamped down on her
interactions with both local and national media at campaign events in
the final stretch. She has also moderated some of her past positions
in public remarks, emphasizing repeatedly that she is “serious about
public safety” and even attempting to eschew some of her
anti-establishment ties.

On Wednesday, she reversed herself on Thanksgiving, telling POLITICO
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that it was, in fact, her favorite holiday. And asked by POLITICO on
Saturday if she had any regrets about her past, she told reporters at
a campaign stop in Sheboygan that she had learned from her tweets.

A sign supporting Hong is seen in a yard in Oshkosh. | Jamie Kelter
Davis for POLITICO

“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. “But I’ve evolved, I’ve learned. I think
it’s more dishonest not to learn.”

Hong has leaned heavily into affordability policies, including raising
the state’s minimum wage from $7.25 to $20, progressive taxation and
a statewide one-year moratorium on data center construction — a
salient issue in Wisconsin, where several local governments have
already voted on moratoriums.

“While many of our supporters or other folks have framed us as
anti-establishment, what we are for is working-class people,” she
told POLITICO. “It’s not so much being anti-establishment as it is
ensuring that we’re listening to voters who are demanding change.”

But many Democrats in the state worry her ideology — including the
old social media posts hawking far-left talking points — will be a
political risk in a battleground general election.

Pro-Republican PACs, including one associated with the Republican
Governors Association, have spent millions of dollars to boost Hong in
the primary so they can face who they perceive to be a weaker
candidate in November.

Kyle Kilbourn, a Democrat who unsuccessfully ran against Tiffany for
his House seat in 2024, said he still had not decided who to support
in the primary because of concerns about “electability statewide.”

“The last several elections have been very very close, by one or two
percentage points, and so it matters,” he told POLITICO while
attending a Hong event at a brewery in Rhinelander.

Even some of Hong’s supporters are anxious.

“It’s always going to be a concern,” Jan Stroman, who attended
an event in River Falls, said when asked if Hong could win against
Tiffany.

Robert LaGesse, 74, said at an event in far-north Superior on Friday
he was voting for Hong — but admitted Hong’s tweets about
abolishing the police “sounds like a foolish statement that could
hurt her big time.”

People applaud as they listen to Hong speak during an event at
Paradigm Coffee and Music in Sheboygan on Aug. 8. | Jamie Kelter Davis
for POLITICO

At the same event, a young Hong campaign volunteer asked her about
those social media posts.“I’m not going to abolish the police as
governor,” Hong responded. “I cannot and I will not defund the
police.” She was asked a similar version of the same question at
nearly every other event last week.

Some supporters also fear that Hong will face racist and sexist
backlash as an Asian American woman. Wisconsin has never elected a
governor who is not a white man.

“There’s a lot of sexism yet in our country,” Tim Freiss, 60 —
a Hong supporter who previously voted for both Bush presidencies —
said in an interview outside his home in Green Bay.

“Honestly, what I’m worried about is her race, because our state
is very racist,” another Hong supporter, Heidi Meyer, 48, said as
Hong canvassed her neighborhood in Appleton.

Tim Freiss sits in front of his home in Green Bay. | Jamie Kelter
Davis for POLITICO

Hong speaks with Heidi Meyer while knocking on doors during a
canvassing event in Appleton. | Jamie Kelter Davis for POLITICO

Democratic officials in the Badger State are determined to unify after
the primary, but many are deeply concerned Hong isn’t running the
disciplined campaign required to defeat a Trump-backed Republican in
Wisconsin.

The messy race has also deeply divided Democrats in the state.
Hong’s allies bristle at Evers’ campaign against her, using his
resources — including his own communications staff — to boost
Crowley. Evers defeated Republican then-Gov. Scott Walker in 2018 by
deploying his brand of more moderate Democratic policies to win over
independents and limit deep losses in rural areas. But he decided not
to run for a rare third term as governor.

Evers on Friday would not commit to endorsing or campaigning with Hong
should she win — though Democrats expect he’ll have to.

“I want to have a chance to take a breath, and once that’s in a
position, we’ll see,” Evers said in an interview as he walked with
Crowley from a Hmong family-owned bakery in Sheboygan to the corner
tavern packed with supporters.

Crowley, asked if he would campaign for Hong this fall if she wins the
nomination, shot back with a smile: “Ask her that too.” But he
quickly added: “I want to be very clear: I’m not in this race
running against any of my opponents. I’m running for the votes of
Wisconsinites, and if they don’t choose me to be the nominee, my job
is to make sure that it’s blue no matter who.”

A Crowley supporter holds campaign signs outside Urbane restaurant,
where Crowley spoke during a campaign event, in Sheboygan on Aug. 7. |
Joshua Lott for POLITICO

Asked Saturday if she would endorse and campaign with Crowley if he
wins on Tuesday, Hong replied with one word: “Yes.”

Hong has admitted the democratic socialist label comes with baggage
— “I can’t say I always love it for me,” she said at a
restaurant in River Falls — but she also rejected the notion that
her campaign is undisciplined and noted that establishment Democrats
had consistently underestimated her bid. She hopes to work with
Democrats across the ideological spectrum in the sprint toward
November.

“We’re a serious campaign that has built a movement and turned out
new voters, folks who are voting for the first time,” Hong said.
“We’re a serious campaign that knows how to win, but we’re also
serious about working as a coalition and making sure that we
collaborate and coordinate with the people that we need to to make
sure we defeat Tom Tiffany in the fall.”

Crowley has charted a more moderate path than Hong’s blistering
democratic socialism. In an interview, he argued the party needs
“someone who’s not just going to fight back, but also who can sit
at the negotiating table and be able to work with folks who want to
deliver for those that we represent.” He also ruled out the data
center moratorium popular with a wide swath of voters that Hong is
running on and using to pull in some pockets of rural support: “So,
the way I hear that question is that we’re going to preempt local
communities from not being able to focus on their own economic
development,” Crowley said.

There are signs that Crowley is making some gains. But he’s still 20
percentage points behind Hong in the latest polling
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“Crowley is closing the gap, but it’s likely too little, too
late,” said one longtime Wisconsin Democratic strategist, who was
granted anonymity to candidly discuss the governor’s pick. 

Evers, left, and David Crowley speak to reporters during a campaign
stop outside Word Haven Book House in Sheboygan. | Joshua Lott for
POLITICO

Crowley’s team argues that Wisconsin polling is likely off just as
it was in Michigan, where Abdul El-Sayed clinched the Democratic
Senate nomination last week by a tighter than expected margin. But the
signs of Hong’s strength are evident across the state, beyond just
her stronghold of Madison. The first voter Crowley greeted at his
opening Sheboygan stop Friday, Paige Gerber, said in an interview
later she had already voted early for Hong.

Supporters at the Crowley event later in the day were well aware of
his standing. Voter after voter in interviews with POLITICO expressed
alarm that their party was poised to pick Hong, a losing horse in
their view.

Retirees in “radicalized by basic decency” T-shirts sipped on beer
and cheered when Evers walked through the door with Crowley, alongside
local IBEW union workers and teachers. “Tony! Tony!” chants
eventually rang through the bar.

A Crowley staffer at one point tried to start a “David! David!”
cheer. But it never caught on.

_Tyler Katzenberger contributed to this report._

_IRIE SENTNER is a Playbook reporter at POLITICO, covering politics
and power for __Washington’s agenda-setting daily newsletter_
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_MEREDITH LEE HILL is a Senior Congress reporter for POLITICO covering
GOP leadership. She previously reported on __food and agriculture
policy from Capitol Hill and the White House_
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with POLITICO, covering congressional __funding battles_
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__trade policy_
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and __rural politics_
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_POLITICO illuminates the forces shaping global power. Since 2007, we
have delivered intelligence that anticipates tomorrow’s headlines,
not reports on yesterday’s news. As politics has increasingly become
the defining force of our era, our work has never been more vital._

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* elections
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* Wisconsin
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* Democrats
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* primary
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* Democratic Socialist of America
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