On Wednesday night, the Brown Political Union hosted Wisconsin State Rep. Francesca Hong (D-Madison) — the first Asian-American member of the Wisconsin legislature — for a moderated discussion and Q&A session titled “Democratic Socialism and the Future of the Democratic Party.”
Hong — a single mother who was formerly a chef and small-business owner — was elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly in 2020. Her legislative term will come to an end in January, and she is not seeking re-election. Earlier this year, Hong ran for Wisconsin governor, but lost by a slim margin in the Democratic primary to more moderate Democrat David Crowley.
During her time in office, Hong has centered her platform around issues such as public education, immigration and economic justice.
Hong announced her intention to run for Wisconsin governor in September 2025. At the event, Hong said she chose to run for the Democratic nomination for governor as a democratic socialist because “there is both a reliance and an alliance” happening between the Democratic Socialists of America and the Democratic Party, which she described as having “more established infrastructure.”
Throughout her campaign, Hong spent significant time face-to-face with voters. Because voters are becoming “more sophisticated” when it comes to scrutinizing political ads, “those in-person conversations matter,” she said.
“We held campaign events in bowling alleys,” Hong said. “I had some of the best conversations with voters in dive bars.”
Despite losing to Crowley in the primary, Hong has worked to rally support for her former opponent to secure a “Democratic trifecta” — a Democratic governor and majorities in both state legislative chambers.
“Even if I’m not on the ballot, I know that with a Democratic trifecta and David Crowley as our next governor, we have the opportunity to undo 16 years of regressive, harmful disinvestment from communities,” Hong said during the event.
Hong’s progressive beliefs stem in part from her experience as a service industry worker. She is a member of the Main Street Alliance, an organization that supports small business owners, and she has advocated for initiatives such as paid leave for all and universal childcare.
“Labor history shows us that small businesses and workers would come together to fight some of the largest corporations that were aiming to take the most wealth away from workers and small business owners,” she said in an interview with The Herald ahead of the talk. “We can’t lose sight of that.”
But publicly sharing her life experiences has also led to trouble on the campaign trail. During Hong’s campaign for the Democratic nomination for Wisconsin governor, her 2020 social media presence became a topic of discussion among voters, with some citing a now-deleted X post of hers that read: “Cancel Thanksgiving. Should have done this in 1621.”
“As a service industry worker, working holidays is hard,” Hong told The Herald. “I was never going to cancel Thanksgiving,” she continued, “and it’s unfortunate that we had to debate a tweet, as opposed to policies that were bringing working-class people together.”
Hong also expressed support for defunding and abolishing the police in 2020 during nationwide Black Lives Matter protests — but she went back on some of those sentiments during her campaign.
“I don’t want there to be a sense of betrayal,” she said at the event in reference to her switch in views. “Where we shifted strategy in terms of responding to previous critiques was not to show so much an evolution of those values, but in recognizing how we knew those were going to be used against us.”
In her interview with The Herald, Hong said she expressed her opinion on police abolition online at a time when “it was clear we needed reform.”
“We needed to not only reinvest in community care but also look at what policing was doing in some very vulnerable communities,” she added.
Two BPU members, Andrew Neville ’30 and Ella Vinkemulder ’30, expressed their satisfaction with the outcome of the event.
Neville said he appreciates “any opportunity that Brown gives us to hear the thoughts of somebody who’s been pretty notable in politics.”
“I was really interested in the future of the Democratic Party angle that she took,” Vinkemulder added. “I wanted to see what a grassroots democratic socialist campaign angle was on that topic, and I really enjoyed the event.”
Lilly Murat ’29 said her Wisconsin roots were what motivated her to come to the talk.
“Francesca Hong brought a lot of hope to my town on what the future of democracy in Wisconsin could look like, and especially in a swing state,” Murat said. “I was excited for a little piece of home.”
Hong’s Democratic primary loss is not stopping her from trying to get people to the polls this coming Tuesday for midterm elections.
“Text your family, friends and your exes,” she said in an interview with The Herald. “Breaking no-contact is worth it for a plan to vote.”
Annika Melwani is a metro senior staff writer covering state politics and justice. She is from New York City and plans on concentrating in English and International and Public Affairs. In her free time, she can be found reading or drinking an iced vanilla latte.
