State Sen. Francesca Hong, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), is widely expected to win Wisconsin’s Democratic gubernatorial primary on Tuesday. Her likely nomination is already reshaping Republican strategy for the November general election, with party figures betting that her most radical positions will become a defining national message.
Hong’s platform includes raising the state’s minimum wage from $7.50 to $20 an hour, imposing a 1% income tax surcharge on couples earning over $431,000 and individuals earning over $323,000, and backing a suite of DSA-favored programs: Medicare for All, free child care, universal free school meals, and anchoring teacher salaries to state legislator pay.
But it’s her past statements — not her policy list — that have drawn the most attention. Hong previously called to “defund then abolish” the police, writing that law enforcement exists to “uphold white supremacy” and advocating for closing prisons. She also called to “cancel Thanksgiving” and criticized Valentine’s Day as a capitalist invention. She has voiced support for abolishing the U.S. Senate, a position she now characterizes as a “bad take.”
Democrats Keep Their Distance
Hong’s rhetoric has proven toxic even for prominent national progressives. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.) have declined to endorse her, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) told Politico, “I don’t know her.” Such distance suggests how difficult it may be for Hong to win over moderate Democrats and independents in a state where recent elections have been decided by razor-thin margins.
In 2024, Donald Trump carried Wisconsin by just shy of 30,000 votes; Joe Biden won it by fewer than 21,000 in 2020. That narrow divide makes the state a top battleground — and a key test for whether Republicans can nationalize the race around socialism.
Republicans Seize the Message
Republicans are already sharpening their attack lines. Former Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin appeared with Republican nominee Rep. Tom Tiffany and laid out the case: “What Francesca Hong stands for is the antithesis of America. She wants to defund police, close prisons. She wants to get rid of the military. She wants to get rid of the presidency.”
Youngkin framed the race as a stark choice: “This is what this election eventually is gonna be about — common sense against crazy.”
That framing, as PJ Media’s Rick Moran notes, could be the GOP’s most potent weapon in a difficult political year. “Common sense against crazy” plays well outside coastal districts, and even if mainstream Democrats try to disavow Hong’s more extreme positions, the broader association with socialism remains a liability.
Some Democratic officials in Wisconsin privately acknowledge the challenge. A July Marquette Law School poll showed democratic socialism with a net negative rating among registered voters statewide.
The real question heading into November: whether the Republican message can overcome what is expected to be a tough national environment for the party. But if the Wisconsin race becomes a referendum on the DSA’s most radical ideas, Republicans believe they have their strongest argument yet.
Source: pjmedia.com — https://pjmedia.com/rick-moran/2026/08/11/why-the-wisconsin-governors-race-will-define-the-midterms-for-republicans-n4956029
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