Francesca Hong’s record and remarks have become a focal point for Wisconsin voters, showing a mix of radical policy prescriptions, identity-driven rhetoric, and alliances that make her a risky general-election nominee for Democrats.

There’s been a flood of clips and reports about Francesca Hong, a dues-paying member of the Democratic Socialists of America who looks set to be the Democratic nominee for Wisconsin governor. Recent moments include her urging the end of Madison’s autonomous zone, hoping to “86” President Trump, and lamenting her “proximity to whiteness” because her 10-year-old son has a white father. Those moments have handed Republicans clear talking points for the fall.

She appeared on national cable and refused to deny extreme-sounding stances, including a comment about banning Thanksgiving and a pledge to dismantle large parts of the criminal justice system. Hong’s language around abolishing prisons and defunding the police keeps resurfacing, and that’s not the sort of message that plays well outside progressive urban hubs. Voters in much of Wisconsin will want plain answers about safety and law and order.

Hong frames a sweeping agenda under the vague label of “safety,” but that word masks a radical plan: reduce prison populations, cut police budgets, and shift massive taxpayer dollars into free housing, food, education, and healthcare. She’s explicit that school choice is off the table while proposing expanded social programs paid for by the public. To many voters, this reads like a wish list of freebies without clear enforcement or accountability for rising crime.

“My views have only become stronger in that I’m serious about public safety and I will not abolish the police. My views are that people are struggling right now and need basic needs met. And I want to focus on stopping violent crime and giving law enforcement the resources and the training that we need but ensure that we’re also holding accountable law enforcement that does not follow the law,” Hong said.

Just weeks ago she called an officer-involved shooting of a repeat offender an “execution,” a phrase that inflamed debate and undercut any effort to reassure swing voters. That kind of rhetoric signals she’s not moderating for the general election; she’s doubling down. Her record shows repeated calls to shrink incarceration rather than to prioritize public safety.

“Abolishing policing is one segment of reforming and re-evaluating our criminal justice system,” she said. “Using the funds … eliminating funds for the police needs to be put into rehabilitation services, mental health services for those in prison, making sure that we are looking at decreasing our prison populations.”

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Hong goes beyond softening sentences; she accuses police of using “state-sanctioned violence” and argues for dismantling unions and slashing protections like qualified immunity. Those pushes would make it harder to recruit and retain law enforcement, which is already stressed in many communities. Her remedy is to route funds toward social services without a clear plan to curb violent crime in the meantime.

“Police officers enforce the law with state-sanctioned violence and then get excused for violating people’s rights because they aren’t expected to know the law,” she said. “Minneapolis police spent nearly five million dollars implementing trainings, increasing diversity, repairing to strengthen frayed relationships between cops and communities. It didn’t work.”

“We have to dismantle police unions, end qualified immunity,” Hong continued, “and start funding social services that work with domestic abuse cases, family services, and public education.” Promoting that agenda while crime rises is a political and practical gamble that Democrats may regret in competitive suburbs and rural counties.

Her opening remarks on the state Assembly floor leaned into identity signaling: she began with a land acknowledgment and her pronouns before reading testimony. That approach plays well for activists but can read as performative to ordinary voters focused on jobs, schools, and safety. The tactic underlines how central race and identity are to her brand.

“Good afternoon, everyone. First, I would like to acknowledge that this building and all of it are on occupied Ho-Chunk land and to clarify that the lady from the 76th pronouns are she/her/hers,” said a masked up Hong. “To begin with speech, I wanted to read out a testimony.”

Race and curriculum are core priorities: she wants Asian American history added to requirements and for “talking about racial identity and the role of race” to be ubiquitous in classrooms. That emphasis shifts classroom focus from basics to identity politics, and many parents are pushing back on that change. Education arguments are increasingly decisive in local races.

“Introducing legislation to add Asian Americans to school curricula when in terms of, you know, adding us onto American Indians, black Americans, and Hispanics in terms of citizenship requirements for what needs to be in curriculum for school boards,” Hong said. “Going back to making sure that talking about racial identity and the role of race is ubiquitous in classrooms.”

She’s even suggested that the service industry is rooted in “white supremacy” and that tipping is evidence of systemic racism, a claim that stretches common sense for many voters in hospitality-dependent towns. That kind of argument alienates workers and small business owners who are sensitive to attacks on their livelihoods. It’s another example of a national progressive playbook applied to local concerns.

“In the service industry, we are finally having this conversation about how our industry really did come from and kind of is rooted in white supremacy,” Hong said. “That tipping in and of itself, if we look at the history of tipping and how racist it is, and has kept wages low for black people for a very long time. And if you look at tipping now how different the scales are in terms of who receives higher percentage of the tips over other folks.”

She also downplays concerns about locker rooms and sports eligibility, saying kids should be allowed to play in ways critics worry could undermine fairness or safety. Those comments make it hard to win over parents who want clear rules. On the campaign trail she has embraced figures like Rep. Ilhan Omar and streamer Hasan Piker as part of her “broad coalition.”

“There are very few instances in which this is happening at various levels of sports,” Hong said. “You know, I think that right now kids, we should let kids play sports.” No one is not letting kids play sports.

“It would be a risk not to try to build the broadest coalition possible,” Hong said. Hasan Piker said America deserved 9/11, he wants to kill capitalists, and he praises Cuba among many other problematic things. Ilhan Omar has had questions about her involvement in the massive welfare fraud in her state and other corruption. But sure, that’s a “broad coalition.”

Even supporters online worry she lacks charisma and the ability to expand beyond a narrow base, with pleas to push her out of her comfort zone after the primary. “We can MAKE her have charisma and get out of her comfort zone,” one post read. The reality is charisma and electability aren’t things you can slap on late in a campaign, and that’s why many Democrats privately fear her heading into November.

“We can MAKE her have charisma and get out of her comfort zone,” the post read. “Because that’s what’s needed to win. Once the primary is over, it’s all hands on deck to go all out like never before and get Hong to go bigger. We CAN make a difference in the campaign.”