Republicans Spent Millions Boosting Hong — Their Chosen Opponent
The RGA pumped $3.6 million into Wisconsin's Democratic primary to elevate the socialist it wants to run against — while Trump brands Democratic candidates "jihadists." Six states vote today.
Republicans spent $3.6 million to pick the Democrats' nominee for governor of Wisconsin — and today Wisconsin Democrats vote on whether to hand them Francesca Hong. The Republican Governors Association pushed the money through Right Direction Wisconsin into ads that showcased Francesca Hong's most progressive positions to Democratic primary voters, the Wall Street Journal reported, because Republican strategists believe the democratic socialist loses to likely GOP nominee Tom Tiffany in November. Hong, 37 — a Madison chef, part-time bartender and dues-paying Democratic Socialists of America member — leads the field anyway. Six states vote today; Wisconsin closes at 9 PM ET.
Hong built the lead before the Republican money arrived. Marquette Law School's July 29 poll put her at 38 percent, Mandela Barnes at 16, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley at 7, with a third of voters undecided. The establishment then collapsed around her: Tony Evers passed on a third term, Sara Rodriguez quit July 17 amid campaign-finance questions, Crowley dropped out July 8 and re-entered ten days later carrying Evers's endorsement, and Barnes folded July 30. Bernie Sanders kept his distance — no endorsement before the vote. David Axelrod dismissed Hong as "a font of zany liberal, faculty lounge exotica." Hong answered on X that she has spent more hours in kitchens than faculty lounges, and invited him to work a Friday dinner rush. Crowley, on Monday: "There are a lot of people who are scared."
