Republicans spend millions to boost Francesca Hong in Wisconsin primary

Republicans are pouring $2.2 million into ads that appear designed to help Francesca Hong in Wisconsin’s Democratic governor primary, an unusually aggressive bid to shape the opposing party’s nominee in a race with national stakes. The open-seat contest, with Gov. Tony Evers retiring after two terms, will be the first Wisconsin governor’s race without an incumbent since 2010.

Hong has emerged as the candidate some Republicans seem eager to elevate. The Madison-area state lawmaker was elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly in 2020 and has built her campaign around a working-class biography as a chef, bartender and line cook, along with her identity as a single mother and self-described “wild card.” She is running on universal child care, paid leave, lower health care costs, higher wages for in-home health care workers and full funding for public schools.

Her rise has made her a target in a Democratic field that also includes Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez, former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, state Sen. Kelda Roys, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley and former state administration official Joel Brennan. As of July 2026, Barnes, Hong and Rodriguez were leading in endorsements, polling and fundraising, but the large field has kept pressure on all of them to build name recognition and cash quickly before the August 11 primary.

Hong’s momentum has been real enough to worry rivals and attract outside spending. At the Wisconsin Democratic Party convention, she finished second in a WisPolitics straw poll with 23.1 percent of the vote, behind Rodriguez’s 27.5 percent. She has also been near the top of the limited public polling ahead of the primary. For Republicans, that has made Hong look like the likeliest Democrat to beat in November, even if their intervention carries the risk of backfiring by giving her more exposure and a stronger claim to outsider energy.

The maneuver underscores how partisan combat in Wisconsin has moved well beyond the general election. The governor’s race is being treated as a test of whether democratic socialism can win statewide in a battleground state, after progressive primary wins in places like New York City, Washington, D.C. and Denver. Hong is one of four Democrats in the Wisconsin Assembly who belong to the Socialist Caucus, and she has faced scrutiny over past calls to defund or abolish the police.

The stakes extend beyond one nomination fight. Democrats view the open race as critical to control of state government and to the politics of one of the country’s closest presidential battlegrounds. With the primary set for August 11 and the general election on November 3, Republicans are trying to steer the field now, before Wisconsin voters make that decision for them.