“I'm the wild card in this race,” Rep. Francesca Hong told POLITICO in an interview ahead of her campaign launch. | Hong for Governor campaign
MADISON, WI (WSAU) – As Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley attempts to revive and rebrand his campaign following the financial scandal that led to Lt. Gov Sara Rodriguez ending her campaign, the latest betting odds show Democratic Socialist Francesca Hong remains the heavy favorite to the be the Democratic nominee for Wisconsin Governor.
According to Kalshi, which has seen more than $1.7 million bet on the primary, Hong currently holds a 70% chance of defeating the Democratic field. At the same time, Crowley comes in at 23%, Mandela Barnes at 5%, Joel Brennan at 1.9%, and Kelda Roys at less than 1%. Meanwhile, the odds at Polymarket are similar, with Hong at 67% to face Republican candidate Tom Tiffany this fall.
Hong, who has quickly risen to political stardom among younger liberal Wisconsin voters by embracing the same Democratic Socialist platform that propelled New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani to victory earlier this year over the more moderate field that included Republican Curtis Sliwa and independent former Governor Andrew Cuomo.
Like Mamdani, Hong has stated that she supports the proposal to abolish police and the Wisconsin prison system stating in a 2021 writing that, “We must collectively work to end the violence and abolish the police state. Reform has never been the answer to this system of harm,” while also publicly stating throughout the last year that she is an anti-capitalist that will bring free child care, public grocery stores, and even a state run bank to Wisconsin.
According to Hong’s campaign, these socialist programs would be supported by an undefined payroll contribution split between employees and employers, with her administration limiting childcare expenditures to 7% of a parent’s annual income. Her platform also mentions funding from “taxing the ultra-wealthy and large corporations,” but critics, such as Republican candidate Tom Tiffany, point to data showing Wisconsin has only seven taxable billionaires and the high likelihood that many businesses will leave the state if she wins in November, imposing the high costs of the proposed programs on middle-class taxpayers.
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