The panic and last-minute maneuvering on the Democrat side of the Wisconsin gubernatorial primary race have, in some ways, been amusing to watch unfold.
As RedState reported, the Democrat establishment's pick, Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez, recently suspended her campaign amid a finance reporting scandal where donations were overcounted, which meant she had much less money on hand than originally thought. Rodriguez announced her campaign's suspension ten days after another candidate, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, dropped out of the race and endorsed her.
Almost immediately, a plan was floated among that same Democrat establishment to get Crowley to reenter the race in hopes of thwarting the surging frontrunner candidacy of Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) party member Francesca Hong, a Wisconsin state representative who counts podcaster Hasan "America deserved 9/11" Piker among her staunchest, most prominent supporters.
SEE ALSO: Dems Continue to Welcome Socialist Candidates Out From Under Their Rock - This Time in Wisconsin
Hong, as we've also reported, is out there, even going so far as to blame the alleged "political violence" she claims the Trump administration is inflicting on illegal immigrant communities in part for the attempted assassination of President Trump and cabinet members at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner back in April.
In part because DSA party leaders have been so willing and eager to promote their radical agenda - which includes abolishing the Senate - in media interviews, Hong has been trying to tiptoe away from some of her more extreme positions in an 11th-hour play to win more moderate Democrat voters in Wisconsin who might swing in Crowley's direction ahead of the August 11 primary.
But though GOP Rep. Tom Tiffany (WI-07), the Trump-backed presumptive Republican gubernatorial nominee, has tried to set the record straight...
This sounds a lot like DSA-backed @FrancescaHongWI.
— Tom Tiffany (@TomTiffanyWI) July 26, 2026
Does she want to abolish the police? Yep.
Does she want to abolish prisons? Absolutely.
Did she call for abolishing the U.S. Senate? Yes.
Socialism is knocking on Wisconsin’s door. This November, we slam it shut. https://t.co/xEo8kKPIow
... the Hong campaign is claiming she never said anything about abolishing the Senate:
"Tom Tiffany is once again telling lies and inventing quotes, because he can't run on his record. Rep. Hong has never called for abolishing the U.S. Senate. Tiffany cannot produce a single statement where she did, because it doesn't exist."
Except... she did, and Tiffany dropped the receipts on her on Tuesday:
Direct quote from @FrancescaHongWI’s campaign to Fox News: “Rep. Hong has never called for abolishing the U.S. Senate. Tiffany cannot produce a single statement where she did, because it doesn't exist.”
— Tom Tiffany (@TomTiffanyWI) July 28, 2026
Apparently, they forgot about this post. https://t.co/2QIb0AhTCG
Even more hilariously, the rest of the statement from the Hong campaign did not dispute her support for some of the other DSA positions. They just asserted they aren't policies she would pursue as governor, and falsely suggested some of the positions weren't actually DSA positions. Further, they tried to claim the DSA wasn't a political party, merely a "membership organization" - which is a distinction without much, if any difference:
"She has spoken about police and prison abolition in the past as an aspirational goal, but it is not her current position, and it's not something she will pursue as governor. She does not support replacing the presidency with the Supreme Court. Eliminating national borders isn't her position either, and it's not even part of the official DSA platform. DSA is a membership organization, not a political party. Rep. Hong is not endorsed by DSA national, and doesn't agree with everything in its national program," Hong communications director Allison Geyer told Fox News Digital.
The polling since Crowley reentered the race is scarce, but Hong has consistently outperformed her other opponents, and even in the two most recent polls, one which was commissioned by Crowley and the other by another current gubernatorial candidate - former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, Hong is still comfortably ahead by double digits in the primary.
Crowley making it to the finish line on primary day in first place is going to be a tall order, especially because early voting is underway, and also considering he's got some Platneresque baggage of his own. In fact, some Democrats in the state are now trying to nullify the absentee ballots they've already cast since there have been so many candidate changes in recent weeks.
A group of Democrats is suing the Wisconsin Elections Commission in an attempt to let voters change their absentee ballots before the August primary.
The lawsuit challenges guidance the commission issued this month, which prevents voters from changing their ballots because a candidate dropped out, or a voter changed their mind.
[...]
The agency adopted its most-recent guidance on July 10, a day after it was approved by members of the elections commission. The move followed a state appeals court decision.
It would be karma of the highest order to have early voting be a factor in the establishment not getting their preferred candidate to the general election, and then having the more extreme candidate lose in the general to Tiffany. We will, of course, keep you posted on developments.
Editor’s Note: The 2026 Midterms will determine the fate of President Trump’s America First agenda. Republicans must maintain control of both chambers of Congress.
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