{"id":20779,"date":"2026-07-29T09:00:35","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T04:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=20779"},"modified":"2026-07-29T09:00:35","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T04:00:35","slug":"francesca-hong-avoids-attacks-as-wisconsin-democrats-meet-for-an-amicable-governor-debate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=20779","title":{"rendered":"Francesca Hong avoids attacks as Wisconsin Democrats meet for an amicable governor debate"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p id=\"anchor-eabf98\" class=\"body-graf\">The five Democratic candidates for governor in Wisconsin almost entirely refrained from lobbing attacks at one another during their only debate Tuesday night, even as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/2026-election\/wisconsin-democrats-hurtle-uncertain-finish-governor-primary-rcna588403\" target=\"_blank\">the volatile race<\/a> enters its final two weeks. <\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-8d5103\" class=\"body-graf\">With early voting underway ahead of the high-stakes Aug. 11 primary \u2014 and with a huge chunk of Democratic voters still undecided \u2014 no one onstage took a direct swing at polling front-runner <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/2026-election\/democratic-socialists-eye-battleground-state-breakthrough-primary-rcna351135\" target=\"_blank\">Francesca Hong<\/a>, a state representative from Madison and democratic socialist, despite growing concerns from some in the party about her viability in a general election. <\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-70e5bd\" class=\"body-graf\">The only tense moment of the hourlong debate came between Hong\u2019s top two rivals for the nomination. Former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes jabbed Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley for re-entering the race this month with outgoing Gov. Tony Evers\u2019 endorsement after Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez abruptly dropped out. <\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-45b169\" class=\"body-graf\">\u201cIt\u2019s been mentioned that the county executive had his campaign resurrected by special interests in a dark room with people with their thumb on the scale,\u201d Barnes said. \u201cThings will always be the same with that sort of leadership. We should be asking for more.\u201d<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-3e5676\" class=\"body-graf\">Crowley didn\u2019t directly respond, but at another moment, he said that \u201cI was actually born into struggle\u201d and that \u201cI\u2019m not here to protect the establishment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-96bd58\" class=\"body-graf\">Otherwise, the three candidates, along with state Sen. Kelda Roys and Joel Brennan, former secretary of the Department of Administration, expressed near-total agreement on a variety of issues, including lowering property taxes, scaling back a school voucher program and taxing people earning more than $1 million annually.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-f4d351\" class=\"body-graf\">Not even Hong\u2019s affiliation with the Democratic Socialists of America emerged as a point of controversy from her competitors, even as Democrats have increasingly expressed fear that she would be too far to the left to defeat Rep. Tom Tiffany, the likely Republican nominee, in November in the swing state. <\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-4d1e30\" class=\"body-graf\">Hong has faced criticism over the course of the campaign for her past calls to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2026\/05\/22\/politics\/kfile-francesca-hong-wisconsin-governor-race-defund-police\" target=\"_blank\">defund and abolish the police<\/a> and her opinion that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jsonline.com\/story\/news\/politics\/2026\/05\/29\/democrat-francesca-hong-speaks-about-an-ideal-world-without-prisons\/90258710007\/\" target=\"_blank\">a \u201cperfect world would be a world without prisons.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-1eb6e6\" class=\"body-graf\">Asked about those comments by the debate moderators Tuesday, as well as whether she agreed with other controversial positions touted by the national DSA, Hong softened her stance.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"styles_inlineImage__FvnTh styles_medium__MEKii\" id=\"anchor-b938be\"><picture class=\"styles_image__i32F7\" data-testid=\"picture\" data-flavor=\"fit\" data-original-height=\"1667\" data-original-width=\"2500\"><source media=\"(min-width: 1000px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_fit-560w,f_avif,q_auto:eco,dpr_2\/rockcms\/2026-07\/260728-Francesca-Hong-Wisconsin-vsb-2130-8ead7f.jpg 2x, https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_fit-560w,f_auto,q_auto:best\/rockcms\/2026-07\/260728-Francesca-Hong-Wisconsin-vsb-2130-8ead7f.jpg 1x\"\/><source media=\"(min-width: 320px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_fit-760w,f_avif,q_auto:eco,dpr_2\/rockcms\/2026-07\/260728-Francesca-Hong-Wisconsin-vsb-2130-8ead7f.jpg 2x, https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_fit-760w,f_auto,q_auto:best\/rockcms\/2026-07\/260728-Francesca-Hong-Wisconsin-vsb-2130-8ead7f.jpg 1x\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_fit-760w,f_auto,q_auto:best\/rockcms\/2026-07\/260728-Francesca-Hong-Wisconsin-vsb-2130-8ead7f.jpg\" alt=\"Francesca Hong\" height=\"1667\" width=\"2500\"\/><\/picture><figcaption class=\"caption styles_caption__TCewG\" data-testid=\"caption\"><span class=\"caption__container\" data-testid=\"caption__container\">Hong distanced herself from certain elements of the national Democratic Socialists of America&#8217;s platform.<\/span><span class=\"caption__source\" data-testid=\"caption__source\">Nam Y. Huh \/ AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p id=\"anchor-99e20c\" class=\"body-graf\">\u201cI do not support the full platform of the national DSA, and I am not endorsed by DSA national. What democratic socialism is is a form of government that puts working-class people first,\u201d she said, before she reiterated her support for stronger public education funding, taxing the rich and investing in universal childcare and affordable housing. <\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-786e01\" class=\"body-graf\">\u201cI am looking forward to helping the Democrats become the big-tent party that they\u2019ve aimed to be for many years,\u201d she added. <\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-ade68f\" class=\"body-graf\">At another point, during a discussion about whether wealthy Wisconsinites would flee the state if they were taxed more, Hong expressed hope that they, too, could benefit from her proposed policies.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-3db085\" class=\"body-graf\">\u201cWe can improve the quality of life for millionaires and ensure that they, too, will be able to live, work and thrive here in our state,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-d2ca22\" class=\"body-graf\">And during a part of the debate focused on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/news\/us-news\/madison-wisconsin-police-shooting-corey-ruiz-rcna588925\" target=\"_blank\">fatal shooting of a Madison man by a police officer last week<\/a> \u2014 which led to protests and demands for accountability \u2014 Hong backed off from her previous statements supporting cutting funding for police departments.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-f78b07\" class=\"body-graf\">Asked whether she would sign a bill or a budget that cut police funding, Hong, who just last week <a href=\"https:\/\/captimes.com\/news\/government\/madison-police-shooting-hong-calls-it-execution-as-candidates-weigh-in\/article_0ac98a87-8068-4c0b-865b-8a376470c216.html\" target=\"_blank\">dubbed the shooting an \u201cexecution,\u201d<\/a> replied, \u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-b182e7\" class=\"body-graf\">\u201cThe governor cannot defund police, and I\u2019m not here to govern by slogan. I\u2019m here to make sure that I am the governor that is most serious about public safety,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-d80007\" class=\"body-graf\">It was one of several areas of agreement among the candidates.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-16d5c1\" class=\"body-graf\">Barnes said, \u201cWe should all be very disturbed by what we saw in those images, what we saw in the video, and we should fight as hard as we possibly can, as a state, as a people, as a society, to make sure that never happens again.\u201d But, he said, \u201cof course, I would not sign a budget that reduced funding\u201d for police.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-f829db\" class=\"body-graf\">Crowley said that \u201cit\u2019s extremely important that we have transparency\u201d but that \u201cwe cannot defund the police.\u201d<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-bf22f5\" class=\"body-graf\">Meanwhile, Barnes, the former lieutenant governor who narrowly lost the 2022 Senate race in Wisconsin, at times attempted to make an electability argument, touting himself as the \u201conly person onstage who\u2019s actually won statewide.\u201d <\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-ed6119\" class=\"body-graf\">In his closing statement, Barnes pointed to a Marquette University Law School poll last week that showed him beating Tiffany in a hypothetical matchup. He also said the \u201cestablishment was trying to rig this election\u201d for their preferred candidate while noting that Republicans were meddling in the Democratic primary to boost the person they want to face in November. While he did not name them, those lines were in reference to Crowley and Hong, respectively. <\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-8c1c2d\" class=\"body-graf\">Crowley tried to differentiate himself by arguing that none of his Democratic opponents \u201chave actually run local government\u201d like he has. <\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-ba9480\" class=\"body-graf\">At the start of the debate, Crowley was also asked whether voters should trust his judgment after NBC News <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/2026-election\/wisconsin-democrat-david-crowley-dirt-mcgirk-twitter-rcna588646\" target=\"_blank\">reported last week <\/a>on the existence of a years-old social media account registered to him that featured incendiary posts about women and race, along with derogatory LGBTQ references.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-8b70aa\" class=\"endmark body-graf\">\u201cI\u2019m here to deliver real results for Wisconsinites all over our state,\u201d Crowley said before he nodded to his endorsement from Evers and \u201clabor unions and leaders all across this state who believe in my leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The five Democratic candidates for governor in Wisconsin almost entirely refrained from lobbing attacks at one another during their only debate Tuesday night, even as the volatile race enters its final two weeks. With early voting underway ahead of the high-stakes Aug. 11 primary \u2014 and with a huge chunk of Democratic voters still undecided&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20780,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_nbcnews-fp-1200-630,f_auto,q_auto:best\/rockcms\/2026-07\/260728-WISCONSIN-GOVERNOR-DEBATE-vsb-2114-c4c82f.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20779","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-hub"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20779","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=20779"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20779\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/20780"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=20779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=20779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=20779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}