‘No magic formula’: Francesca Hong recalibrates her democratic socialist message as Wisconsin’s primary nears

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The Democratic gubernatorial front-runner has backed away from some of her past controversial positions — but not her left-wing brand — as she faces electability concerns.

Francesca Hong, a representative in the Wisconsin State Assembly, poses for a portrait at the St. Paul Baptist Church in Racine, WI on Sunday July 19th, 2026.

State Rep. Francesca Hong has led her Democratic rivals in the Wisconsin governor's race heading into Tuesday's primary.Sara Stathas / The Washington Post via Getty Images

Aug. 7, 2026, 5:00 AM EDT

By Adam Edelman

MILWAUKEE — In recent years, Wisconsin state Rep. Francesca Hong, an unabashed democratic socialist, called to defund and abolish the police. Just three months ago, she said that “my perfect world would be a world without prisons.” And in 2021, she wrote that she wanted to “abolish the Senate.”

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