Francesca Hong Continues to Lead Democratic Field

State Rep. Francesca Hong (D-Madison), a self-described democratic socialist and member of the Wisconsin Assembly’s Socialist Caucus, has emerged as the frontrunner in the Democratic primary for governor, according to several recent polls.

The March Marquette University Law School Poll showed Hong with 14 percent support among Democratic primary voters, ahead of former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes at 11 percent. Most voters remained undecided.

That marks the third straight Marquette poll Hong has led the survey of primary voters. She’s also led the Democratic field in a Patriot Polling survey conducted March 10 to 16. The poll found her at 27 percent, nine points ahead of Barnes at 18 percent, a result her campaign says reflects growing enthusiasm for her message.

Hong is ahead of some Democratic party stalwarts, including the current Lieutenant Governor Sara Rodriguez, Barnes, a former Lieutenant. Governor who was also the party’s nominee for US Senate in 2022, and the Milwaukee County Executive, David Crowley.

Hong announced her candidacy in September 2025 with a video titled “We Make Better Possible.” In it she drew on her background as a single mother, restaurant worker and community organizer.

“It’s so stressful to get by these days and I know a lot about stress. I work in restaurants. I started in this kitchen 15 years ago,” she said in the video. “A lot of people in that building don’t get why it’s so hard to get by right now. Working hard doesn’t mean you can always keep up. One wrong step can lay you out flat. This is by design.”

She continued: “I’m State Representative Francesca Hong. I’m a service worker, community organizer, and a mom. I work for a living. Always have, still do. Five years ago, my community sent me to the Capitol. The system is rigged. I’m running for governor to fix it.”

Hong’s expansive platform includes several large‑scale public investments. Her universal childcare proposal is modeled on programs in New Mexico and Vermont, where state subsidies sharply reduce or completely cover out‑of‑pocket costs for families. Her paid‑leave plan would create a statewide insurance program covering all workers, including the self‑employed. She also calls for expanding Medicaid and creating a public health insurance option, which she argues would lower premiums and stabilize rural hospitals.

Her left wing populism and blunt talk are a feature of not just her stump speeches, but her official communications. In one fundraising appeal she wrote, “Want to help move Wisconsin forward—and show the racist assholes they can’t slow us down? Chip in a few bucks today to help build a better, more equitable future for all Wisconsinites.”

Hong’s campaign has raised money at a rapid pace and without a flood of large donations. Through the end of 2025 it reported $369,874 from an impressive  7,363 donations. The median donation was $15 and the average was $49.96. About 75 percent of the money came from in-state donors, and the campaign signed up more than 1,650 volunteers.

Her campaign website states the effort is funded solely by small donors and rejects corporate PAC money.

“We deserve leaders who care more about people than profits,” the site says. “Fran isn’t taking a dime from corporate PACs — and she sure as hell isn’t self-funding her campaign. This is a grassroots campaign, powered by working people. Not billionaires.”

Hong has highlighted her polling leads in posts on X. After the latest Marquette results she wrote: “We’ve got ourselves a three-peat, folks! Today’s Marquette Law Poll has our campaign in first place, and we’ve widened our lead by three percentage points. Our message is resonating.”

Hong’s campaign style has been unorthodox. She continues working restaurant shifts, hosts events at bars and community spaces, and has used direct, sometimes profane language on social media. One post reacting to a legislative hearing read: “I’d like to say I’ll try harder — but I’m not gonna.” Another post in which she was cheering on the Brewers in mlb’s playoffs ended with “Y’ALL BETTER FUCKING CALL SAL.”

Hong stresses her everyday life in an effort to connect with voters, a point she returns to repeatedly. “I know what it’s like to live paycheck to paycheck. To struggle to find childcare. To make tough decisions at the grocery store,” she said in the announcement video.

Observers have linked Hong’s rise to a national leftward surge. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist backed by DSA, won election in 2025 on promises of expanded social programs and higher taxes on the wealthy. Wisconsin DSA figures have drawn parallels; with one having referred to Mamdani as “the Fran Hong of New York.”

Hong belongs to the Wisconsin Assembly’s Socialist Caucus, which  grew to four members after the 2024 elections. It is the first such caucus in the Legislature in more than 90 years. Democratic Socialists of America members also won a Milwaukee Common Council seat in 2025, the first since 1948.

No specific cost estimates for her major proposals appear on her campaign site or in her public statements. For now, Hong has said the programs would be funded by taxing the rich, making large corporations and hospitals contribute more and by prioritizing working-class priorities over billionaire influence. 

Her agenda may not face much scrutiny or demands for specific funding proposals until the general election. In recent weeks, several of her competitors for the Democratic nomination have echoed her proposals on things like universal pre K, and making a public health care plan available to every Wisconsinite.

The big question is whether Wisconsin voters will embrace a democratic socialist at the top of the ticket. Hong’s campaign bet is that her populist message of “better is possible,” delivered in plain language by a working mother who rose from the hot grill in the back of the house to the halls of Capitol, will strike a chord.

In a recent X post Hong tied voter discontent to a broader search for alternatives that could help her in November: “A new survey from the Center for Working-Class Politics found that 1 in 5 Trump voters aren’t planning to vote Republican in 2028. But they’re not going to the Democrats either. They’re leaving politics altogether — unless someone gives them something to believe in.”

In November, Wisconsin may find out if her new generation Socialism will resonate beyond the Democratic base of Wisconsin’s two largest cities and two dozen college campuses.

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By Dairyland Sentinel Staff, Published March 28, 2026