Francesca Hong, the democratic socialist who lost the primary for governor to David Crowley, is not promising to campaign alongside the Dem nominee ahead of the Nov. 3 election as she launches her own statewide tour over the coming weeks.
“This is me campaigning for Democrats,” Hong said on WISN 12’s “UpFront,” which is produced in partnership with WisPolitics. “I think that it’s important we are campaigning in as many places as we can, and I think that you’ll see Democrats come together and make sure that we’re earning people’s votes.”
Hong said the focus should on the citizens of Wisconsin.
“It’s not about one individual,” the state representative from Madison said. “We’ve kept an open line of communication with the county executive, and it’s exciting to know that we can help build more ground game and make sure that we have as many people turning out to vote for him and Democrats down and up the ballot.”
Hong launched what she is calling her “We Make Better Possible Trifecta Tour” with events this past weekend in Milwaukee and Beloit. Ahead of the election, she plans to travel to Stevens Point, Menomonie, Green Bay, Oshkosh, Madison and Ashland.
“I think it’s important that David lets our supporters know that he shares our values, that he’s fighting for working-class families,” Hong said, noting Crowley supports raising the minimum wage and fully funding schools. “There are areas where we have shared policy goals, and if we want an opportunity to advance a progressive agenda, we have to elect Democrats to have an opportunity to hold electeds accountable.”
Hong said she was surprised by the primary results and, when asked if she would have done anything differently, said, “I was never going to cancel Thanksgiving.”
“Actually love to celebrate the holidays,” Hong said. “I’m a daughter of Wisconsin, born and raised in this state. There’s nothing I love more than Packers games, Culver’s and making sure that my community has the things that they need.”
Hong had faced immense scrutiny surrounding previous social media posts, including several calling to cancel Thanksgiving. During a CNN interview that garnered nationwide attention shortly before the primary, Hong did not directly answer whether she still stood by the posts.
“I do regret that interview,” she said.
See more on Hong’s campaigning below.
Also on the program, Jessica Taylor, the U.S. Senate and governors editor for the Cook Political Report, says its current “toss up” rating in the governor’s race may change depending on the results of Wednesday’s new Marquette University Law School poll.
“This has been a very topsy-turvy governor’s race,” Taylor told “UpFront.” “We had it in toss up at the beginning of the primary, which was unprecedented in many ways. We ended up with a surprise nominee, and David Crowley, I think, is certainly stronger than Francesca Hong would have been. And I think Tom Tiffany is running a very strong race for a Republican in Wisconsin, but it’s a very challenging environment, so I will say we’re continually reevaluating our rating.”
Tiffany, the 7th CD congressman from Minocqua, joined other Republicans nationwide last week in distancing themselves from President Donald Trump’s Iran war and calling for its end.
“President Bush and President Obama were more willing to let their party distance themselves when needed,” Taylor said. “But President Trump has not been wanting to do that. He’s put himself front and center. We had the midterm convention just a few weeks ago, and he said, ‘Pretend that I’m on the ballot.’ Democrats would love nothing more for voters to pretend that he is on the ballot, and if voters in Wisconsin pretend that Trump is on the ballot, that’s not good news for Tom Tiffany.”
Democrats, Taylor said, have their own campaign concerns as well.
“Democrats should not take any wins in November as an endorsement of their party, because they are as unpopular as Republicans,” Taylor said. “Broadly the democratic socialists are unpopular across the country, and that’s hurting the brand. But one thing that might help Crowley is that he ran against a democratic socialist, and he was denouncing her and trying to separate himself from her.”
In another segment, Senate Minority Leader Dianne Hesselbein says Democrats’ internal polling shows their candidates leading in all four key districts pivotal to which party will control the chamber.
“I’m not going to go into numbers,” Hesselbein told “UpFront.” “However, it’s been going steadily up this entire time.”
Last week on “UpFront,” GOP state Sen. Patrick Testin characterized the races as “tight” and “statistical toss-ups.”
“I don’t know who their pollster is, to be clear, but all of ours are showing, from different pollsters, that we are up in the state Senate, which we’re really happy about,” the Middleton Dem said.
The four key districts include: the 5th between Republican Mike Roberts and Democratic state Rep. Robyn Vining; the 21st, featuring Republican Jim Croft and Democrat Trevor Jung; the 17th, featuring GOP state Sen. Howard Marklein and Democratic state Rep. Jenna Jacobson; and the 31st, featuring Democratic state Sen. Jeff Smith and Republican Michele Magadance Skinner.
“I think Sen. Testin talked about the core four,” Hesselbein said. “I actually liked those words, and those are the exact ones that we are thinking about as well.”
Earlier this year, Senate Democrats helped kill the $1.8 billion tax relief deal negotiated by Dem Gov. Tony Evers and Republican leaders, which would’ve used the state’s now projected $3 billion surplus to deliver rebate checks, reduce property taxes and invest more money in special education.
“That isn’t something that I hear about when I’m knocking on doors and listening to voters,” Hesselbein said. “I have been all over the state listening to voters and hearing what they want, and they’re talking about these crushing costs, and they’re talking about the cost of gas and the cost of groceries and everything else,” Hesselbein said. “They’re not bringing up that.”
See more from the show.