Biography

Francesca Hong was born on November 4, 1988, in Madison, Wisconsin, to Korean American immigrant parents. She grew up in Madison, attended Madison West High School, and studied Spanish and journalism at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Before entering politics, she built a career in the restaurant industry — working as a sous chef, executive chef, dishwasher, line cook, and bartender, and co-founding Morris Ramen, a beloved Madison restaurant. She is a single mother and continues to work restaurant shifts alongside her legislative duties.

Hong was elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly in 2020, representing District 76 in Madison. She became the first Asian American state legislator in Wisconsin history. She was reelected unopposed in 2022 and 2024. In the Assembly, she has championed raising the tipped minimum wage, expanding childcare access, affordable housing, and workers' rights. She is one of four members of the Wisconsin Legislature's revived socialist caucus, which was dormant from 1935 until two Milwaukee lawmakers restarted it in 2023.

Hong is a proud member of the Democratic Socialists of America and has been endorsed by DSA chapters in Milwaukee, northeast Wisconsin, and Madison. She is deeply influenced by Wisconsin's own progressive tradition — pointing to the fact that Bernie Sanders won 71 of 72 Wisconsin counties in the 2016 Democratic presidential primary, and invoking the legacy of Progressive Era visionaries like Robert La Follette. 'These folks were called unreasonable, impractical and unelectable,' she said at the state Democratic convention. 'Yet today they're considered visionaries.'

2026 Governor's Race

Hong entered the open race for Wisconsin governor in September 2025, following incumbent Gov. Tony Evers's announcement that he would not seek a third term. Running as the race's clear democratic socialist, she has framed her candidacy as a direct extension of the progressive wave sweeping cities like New York, Denver, and Philadelphia. 'Workers are reclaiming our power,' she said at a June 2026 virtual rally, 'and this is an opportunity to ensure that the rest of politics across our country can change when we win here in Wisconsin.'

As of late July 2026, Hong leads the Democratic primary field with 27% support in the latest Marquette University Law School poll, ahead of former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes (18%) and other candidates — though a plurality of respondents remained undecided. She has been endorsed by Reps. Ro Khanna and Ilhan Omar, and former Bernie Sanders campaign co-chair Nina Turner. If she wins the primary on August 11, she will face Republican Rep. Tom Tiffany in a general election rated as a toss-up — polling shows Tiffany leading Hong 43–40% among registered voters.

Hong's platform centers on universal childcare, paid family leave, Medicare for All, $20 minimum wage, a moratorium on AI data centers, affordable housing, and opposition to U.S. military aid to Israel. She has promised to issue an emergency declaration on deportations and to direct state resources to immigrant communities. Her candidacy is the highest-profile test yet of whether democratic socialist politics can travel beyond liberal cities into a true swing state.

Universal childcare
Medicare for All
$20 minimum wage
Affordable housing
Climate & clean energy
Immigrant rights

In the press