Democratic socialist Francesca Hong is on the brink of becoming the Democratic nominee in the Wisconsin governor’s race, which is expected to be one of the most competitive gubernatorial contests in the country this November. A relatively unknown state lawmaker before the primary, Hong has held a consistent lead over her more established competitors and appears on track to secure her party’s nomination in Tuesday’s primary.
If elected, she would be the first woman and first Asian American to hold Wisconsin’s top job. She would also be the first self-described socialist elected governor of any state in American history.
As she has emerged as a national political figure, the conversation surrounding Hong has centered on a surprising topic that has little to do with her background or her progressive policy positions: Thanksgiving.
In 2021, Hong wrote in a since-deleted post on X that the U.S. should “cancel Thanksgiving,” which she characterized as an event “celebrating colonialism.”
When asked by CNN earlier this week whether she still held that view, Hong gave a lengthy, noncommittal answer in which she referenced her previous career as a chef and said that the holiday can be “incredibly painful” for a lot of communities. Two days later, she joked that Thanksgiving was her favorite holiday during an interview with Politico.
“I don’t want to cancel it,” she added. “I actually love it.”
Hong’s holiday hot takes likely won’t decide whether she becomes Wisconsin’s next governor, but the resurfacing of her old posts has served as an unorthodox introduction to voters as she prepares to go head-to-head against likely Republican nominee, Rep. Tom Tiffany, in the general election.
There’s much more to know about Hong than what can be found in her old social media posts. Here’s a look at her background, what she stands for and what she’ll need to do to help Democrats keep control of the governor’s mansion in the critical swing state.
Who is Francesca Hong?
Hong, 37, was born and raised in Madison, Wis., to parents who immigrated from South Korea in the 1980s. She attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she studied journalism and Spanish, but left school to pursue a career as a professional chef. At 23, she became executive chef at a popular fine-dining restaurant in the city and later opened her own restaurant, Morris Ramen.
When COVID-19 forced the restaurant to close temporarily in 2020, she cofounded a nonprofit called Cook It Forward to provide meals to people struggling during the pandemic. Her dissatisfaction with how Wisconsin cared for its residents during that period inspired her to enter politics. In 2021, she was elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly, becoming the first Asian American lawmaker in the state’s history.
“I knew that being helpless was going to destroy me,” Hong told the Cap Times in late 2020. “So running for office saved me in that it gave me a sense of purpose. It gave a lot of folks in the [restaurant] industry a sense of direction that maybe we’re moving toward having representation and voices of lived experiences finally at the table.”
During her five years in the state legislature, she has been a persistent advocate for progressive causes. She has introduced bills to raise Wisconsin’s minimum wage for tipped workers and to establish an Economic Justice Bill of Rights in the state. She was also a key supporter in a successful push to pass a law requiring Wisconsin schools to teach Hmong and Asian American history as part of their curriculum.
What does Hong stand for?
When it comes to her policy positions, Hong fits comfortably alongside the wave of progressive Democrats who have become an increasingly influential force within the party, including New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed.
According to her campaign website, Hong supports establishing a state-level version of Medicare for All, guaranteed paid leave, stronger protections for renters, increasing taxes on corporations and billionaires, expanding access to gender-affirming care and abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Though those positions are well to the left of most Democratic lawmakers, she has become more moderate on certain other issues than she was a few years ago. One of the most notable is criminal justice. In 2021, she called for Wisconsin to “defund then abolish” the police in a social media post, saying that law enforcement exists to “uphold white supremacy.” In an Aug. 4 interview, she said she no longer holds that view. Instead, she says she wants to increase accountability for “law enforcement that does not follow the law” while investing more in violence prevention strategies and community programs.
Hong has also faced questions about a statement she made in May in which she described her “perfect world” as one without prisons. She has since described that statement as an “aspirational” vision for the future and clarified that she has no intention of dismantling the “systems in place right now” for protecting public safety.
Not the establishment’s candidate
Wisconsin is a quintessential swing state, having voted for Democrats and Republicans in alternating presidential elections over the past four election cycles. The governorship has also changed party control three times since 2000.
That has led many establishment Wisconsin Democrats to argue that Hong is too far to the left to win a statewide election, prompting them to throw their support behind her primary opponents even when she was the clear favorite to win.
Some Democrats have accused Republicans of trying to boost her chances in the primary by spending millions on attack ads they say are covertly designed to make her seem appealing to younger voters.
“They’re resorting to trying to pick an opponent they think they can beat,” Joe Zepecki, a Democratic strategist, told Wisconsin Public Radio.
Hong talks during a primary gubernatorial debate in Milwaukee on July 28.
(Nam Y. Huh/AP)Hong’s most prominent skeptic is Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers. After declining to endorse any of the candidates in the crowded Democratic primary field throughout much of the campaign, Evers threw his support behind Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley in mid-July, helping revive Crowley’s campaign after he had dropped out of the race about two weeks earlier and then reentered it.
“I want, more than for Democrats to win in November, it’s to leave Wisconsin in good hands when someone else takes over,” he told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel while explaining his decision. “Obviously, she’s an extraordinarily talented person, but at the end of the day, it was about issues.”
When asked directly whether he believed Hong could defeat her Republican opponent in November, Evers answered: “Probably not.”
Evers’s late endorsement has rankled some Wisconsin Democrats, who argue it came too late and risked turning Hong’s supporters against the party as a whole.
“These types of shenanigans are what loses pivotal elections,” one longtime Democratic donor told Politico.
It’s unclear whether the governor’s endorsement will have any meaningful impact on the primary, and even if it does, Crowley would have to close a substantial gap in the polls to make the race competitive.
Polls have also provided some evidence to back the assertion that Hong could be a riskier nominee for her party than her primary opponents.
A recent survey of potential general election matchups found Sara Rodriguez and Mandela Barnes, who have both served as lieutenant governor under Evers, with modest leads over the likely Republican nominee, Tiffany, among likely voters. Hong trailed by a few percentage points, putting her in a dead heat with Tiffany.
While Wisconsin Democrats are divided over the ideological direction of their party, they are united in opposition to Republicans like Tiffany, a conservative member of Congress who cosponsored a bill to establish a nationwide ban on most abortions and has supported President Trump’s false claims about the 2020 election. Whether having a common opponent will be enough to help the various Democratic constituencies come together behind Hong in November remains to be seen.
