Francesca Hong
A chef turned lawmaker's insurgent campaign is testing how far a divided Democratic Party will go for change Screenshot From @FrancescaHongWI / X

Francesca Hong, a democratic socialist who has surged to the front of Wisconsin's Democratic gubernatorial primary, is facing sharp attacks from Donald Trump and open doubts from senior figures in her own party ahead of Tuesday's vote.

The Madison state representative, a former restaurant owner and single mother, has built a grassroots campaign that polling suggests puts her ahead of three rivals in the race to succeed the outgoing governor, Tony Evers.

Hong, 37, told The Guardian she entered the race because Wisconsin voters were 'tired of people making decisions that don't improve lives' and 'tired of the status quo'. Her rise has drawn national attention in recent days, much of it unwelcome.

To recall, the primary turned unusually turbulent after David Crowley, the Milwaukee county executive, briefly exited the race before re-entering it with Tony Evers' endorsement, and after Sara Rodriguez withdrew over campaign finance irregularities and Mandela Barnes dropped out on 31 July.

Trump Seizes on Hong's Past Posts

Trump has focused on Hong's past social media posts, including a since-deleted 2020 tweet calling to 'cancel Thanksgiving', a remark she told CNN reflected views that 'can evolve'.

Becky Cooper, Hong's campaign manager, said revisiting posts from years ago was 'a huge waste' of time that distracted from voters' concerns over healthcare and property taxes, though she added the campaign was 'always working to sharpen language and deliver the message.'

Scrutiny intensified after the progressive Abdul El-Sayed won Michigan's Democratic Senate primary last week, prompting debate about whether left-leaning candidates can hold swing states. David Axelrod, the strategist who guided Barack Obama's campaigns, has repeatedly criticised Hong, once describing her as 'a font of zany liberal, faculty lounge exotica'.

Party Establishment Questions Hong's Electability

Evers himself suggested Hong's campaign was 'in a tough place' because she had to contend with 'what's on the Twitter'.

Ben Wikler, the former Wisconsin Democratic party chair, framed the stakes differently, noting the governor certifies presidential results and that the Republican candidate, Tom Tiffany, voted against certifying Joe Biden's 2020 victory in other contested states. 'This is a very high-stakes seat,' Wikler said.

Michael Wagner, who directs the University of Wisconsin-Madison's journalism school, said Democrats have often assumed only moderate candidates can win statewide, though Wisconsin's own senators, the progressive Tammy Baldwin and the Tea party-aligned Ron Johnson, complicate that theory.

Hong, he said, has 'a really good chance' if she mobilises younger voters while easing concerns among moderates, though he cautioned that 'any one of 20 things could shift 10,000 votes' in a state this evenly split.

Grassroots Energy on the Campaign Trail

That energy was visible in late July at Milwaukee's Riverwest 24 bike race, where supporters displayed a sign reading 'We love Fran' and Hong later got a tattoo marking the event. Chris Larson, a state senator who has endorsed her, dismissed criticism of her electability as 'lacking in imagination'.

Hong has pointed to Crowley's re-entry as a sign of establishment unease, describing a 'reluctance to change, and a fear of change' among some rivals. She counters electability questions by arguing that whoever wins the most votes is, by definition, the most electable candidate.

Wisconsin's Democratic voters go to the polls on Tuesday, with the winner set to face Tiffany in November.

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