Socialist winning streak puts prized Democratic battleground at risk as radical leftists advance
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Video WATCH: Francesca Hong brushes off scrutiny of past posts: ‘Bad takes’ Wisconsin Democratic gubernatorial frontrunner candidate Francesca Hong answers questions for Fox News Digital on the eve of the state’s primary elections.
MADISON, Wis. - For a second straight week, the Midwest is the key battlefield in the high-stakes fight between the left-wing and the center-left establishment for the future of the Democratic Party.
After far-left candidate Abdul El-Sayed narrowly edged out more moderate Rep. Haley Stevens a week ago in battleground Michigan's Democratic Senate primary, which was the biggest stage to date in the party's ideological civil war, the spotlight now shifts to statewide nomination showdowns Tuesday in Wisconsin and Minnesota.
At stake: a top-tier Senate showdown in Minnesota that's among a dozen races nationwide that will determine if the Democrats can win back control of the chamber from the GOP, and a gubernatorial face-off in crucial swing-state Wisconsin where Republicans are aiming to flip the governor's mansion.
Also on the ballot, as Minnesota and Wisconsin join Connecticut, Vermont, South Carolina, and Alabama in holding primaries: incumbent governors in Connecticut and Vermont are running to extend their tenures, and the power of President Donald Trump 's endorsement in a GOP nomination contest is on the line in South Carolina, in the race to succeed the late Sen. Lindsey Graham.
Wisconsin state Rep. Francesca Hong, a Democratic gubernatorial candidate, greets supporters at a campaign stop in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, on August 10, 2026. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)
"Michigan proved that working people are ready for something different, and Wisconsin is next," Democratic candidate for governor Francesca Hong wrote following El-Sayed's victory.
Hong, a state representative and Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) member, is the polling frontrunner in a Democratic gubernatorial nomination showdown that's been rocked this summer after two major contenders dropped out, and another candidate re-entered the race.
The primary winner will likely face off in the general election with Republican Rep. Tom Tiffany, the overwhelming polling and fundraising frontrunner for the GOP gubernatorial nomination , in the race to succeed Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, who decided against running for a third term. Tiffany, who is backed by Trump, is a hard-right member of the House Freedom Caucus.
Republican Rep. Tom Tiffany of Wisconsin, a GOP gubernatorial candidate, speaks at a campaign event in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, on August 10, 2026. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)
Hong, a 37-year-old former chef and single mother, is backed by top nationally known progressives, including Reps. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Ro Khanna of California, a potential 2028 Democratic presidential contender. But Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, a longtime champion of the left, last week said he didn't plan on endorsing Hong, arguing that he was not familiar enough with her campaign or the race.
Hong is running on a platform that includes guaranteed paid leave, boosting the state's minimum wage from $7.25 to $20 per hour, and a one-year moratorium in Wisconsin on building AI data centers. Hong has faced scrutiny over years-old social media posts calling for defunding and abolishing the police. But she says she no longer supports cutting police budgets or abolishing police departments.
"I'm not defunding the police, not abolishing police. I am serious about public safety," Hong emphasized on Saturday as she took questions from voters.
Hong also made national headlines over the past two weeks for a resurfaced social media post from 2020 where she argued that the country should "cancel Thanksgiving" in order to "stop celebrating colonialism."
Hong walked back her Thanksgiving comments, amid backlash, and now says that Thanksgiving is her "favorite holiday."
On her resurfaced tweets, Hong told reporters on Saturday that she has "evolved" and "learned."
Tiffany, in an interview on the eve of the primary as he teamed up for a couple of campaign events with former Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, told Fox News Digital that Wisconsin will be a "firewall… We’ll be the place that stops socialism."
Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez and former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes , two of the major contenders for the Democratic nomination, exited the race this summer. And Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, who earlier suspended his campaign and backed Rodriguez, re-entered the contest.
Crowley is backed by Evers, who joined him on the campaign trail in the closing stretch leading up to the primary.
There's a growing number of more moderate Democrats concerned that if Hong captures the gubernatorial nomination, as many expect, it will give Tiffany a big boost in his bid to flip the governor's office.
A Wisconsin-based Democratic strategist who asked to remain anonymous to speak more freely argued that with Hong at the top of the ticket, "it will hurt Democrats down ballot, in key congressional and legislative races" in the Midwestern battleground
Meanwhile, pro-GOP super PACs, including one aligned with the Republican Governors Association, have shelled out millions of dollars to boost Hong in the primary, because they view her as the weakest Democratic candidate.
Asked about electability concerns, Hong told Fox News on Sunday that "this election belongs to the voters. We let the voters decide. The candidate that's the most electable is the one that earns the most votes. So we're focused on meeting voters up until Election Day, until the polls close."
Minnesota Lt. Gov. and candidate for U.S. Senate Peggy Flannagan, left, pictured alongside her Democratic challenger Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minn., right. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images; David Berding/Getty Images)
The Democratic Party's civil war is also on display in Minnesota, as progressive Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan and more moderate Rep. Angie…
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