It’s a big leap from the State Assembly to the Governor’s Office – a leap Francesca Hong is ready to make.
“I ask myself every day” why run for governor now, Hong said in an interview for the 365 Amplified podcast. “And I have a new reason why every day, this morning, I thought about how fascism really aims to divide us and distract us and prevent us from imagining better. And I thought to myself, like no one gets to tell us that — no one gets to tell us what we can imagine and what we can dream.”
Hong is the first Asian American to serve in the Wisconsin legislature. She represents the heavily left-leaning 76th District. Encompassing downtown Madison and the city’s near east and north sides. The seat has been a springboard before: both US Rep. Mark Pocan and US Senator Tammy Baldwin got their start there.
“With these moments that we’re living through right now, what it demands is a movement, and a movement is driven by working-class people and folks who demand change,” Hong said. “It’d be an honor to serve as governor in a state that I love.”
Listen to the entire interview:
‘In community, we keep each other safe’
Hong’s campaign leans heavily on a message of mutual care and community solidarity, values she says come from both her time in public office and her background as a restaurant owner.
“In community, we keep each other safe,” she said. “We have to remain vigilant and vocal and share resources on how folks in the community can help protect one another while also being well informed.”
She said the state has an obligation to do more to protect vulnerable communities.
“We introduced the Keep Families Together bill package, which would prohibit law enforcement at the local level from cooperating with ICE,” Hong said. “It would require that federal agents have visible identity and can’t walk around here disappearing people while having masks on.”
On the campaign trail, Hong said she hears the same concerns from every corner of the state — affordability, care, and education.
“Regardless of what zip code I’m in, folks want to engage on issues around child care, elder care, public education, paid leave,” she said. “When we have communities that are rooted in caring for themselves, for one another, for our kids, for our workers, for our small businesses, we build stronger communities.”
Her policy platform includes universal child care, fully funded public schools, and paid leave for all. “The childcare infrastructure in Wisconsin is incredibly fragile, and we’re at risk of, in the next couple of years, seeing up to 60 child care centers close,” she said. Her platform calls for free childcare for anyone earning up to four times the federal poverty salary – that’s $110,000 a year for a family of four – and subsidized childcare for households earning more.
On health care, she added, “Expanding BadgerCare is the bare minimum. But when we have a federal government that is consistently slashing or taking away health care and health insurance for working-class people, the state needs to step in.”
Economic fairness and small business access
Hong also wants to establish a public bank to help small business owners gain access to low-interest loans and grants.
“We have a very similar entity … in the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, and that could be run much more efficiently and with additional state funding,” she said. “It would be in phases … figuring out how to expand that and move it more towards being a public good.”
Building working-class power
Republicans have controlled both chambers of the legislature since 2011, giving any Democratic gubernatorial candidate a potential legislative challenge. However, with new electoral maps taking effect last year, Democrats gained 10 seats in the Assembly and four in the Senate, with more seats potentially flipped next year.
“I am always nauseously optimistic that we will build working-class power and have a Democratic trifecta,” Hong said. “I think 2026 is going to be our best shot.”
Beyond the statewide race, Hong said she’s committed to supporting Democrats and progressives down the ballot, which is also how she’s building statewide support and name recognition.
“One of the best ways that you can help strengthen democracy is to pay attention to local elections,” she said. “It’s the folks who are closest to your door whose policies are going to impact you first.”
Hong frames her campaign as a rejection of incremental change.
“Folks need ways to improve their lives right now,” she said. “We’re feeling the economic impacts of rising costs, things being less affordable. And so we need more public goods, and we can have more public goods when we have a government that is for good.”
“Austerity got us here,” she added. “Which just means we have to work even harder to repair some of that harm, undo it, and then work to make sure that folks deserve urgency and action and change that meets the moment. Incrementalism is the irresponsible thing to do.”
Hong’s bid for the Democratic nomination remains a long shot – a recent survey has about four percent of Democrats saying they’d vote for her if the election was held today, putting her behind Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley and former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, who has not yet announced whether he plans to run. Other Democrats in the race include State Senator Kelda Roys and former WEDC CEO Missy Hughes.
As Hong embarks on a campaign that aims to connect care, community, and resistance, she said she’s guided by optimism and urgency in equal measure.
“No one gets to tell us what we can imagine and what we can dream,” she said.
The primary election will take place August 11, 2026 and the general election November 3, 2026.
