MADISON, Wis. — A democratic socialist is surging in Wisconsin’s Democratic primary race for governor, and establishment figures are showing no signs of stopping her.
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Polling this week shows that state Rep. Francesca Hong is well-positioned to win the five-way primary on Aug. 11.
She had 38 percent of the vote in a survey of likely voters released Wednesday by Marquette University Law School. Behind her were former lieutenant governor Mandela Barnes with 16 percent and Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley with 7 percent. Two other candidates — state Sen. Kelda Roys and former state administration secretary Joel Brennan — trailed with 2 percent each. More than a third of those polled were undecided.
Hong also led in a State Navigate poll released Tuesday that showed her with support from 44 percent of likely voters. Crowley had 15 percent, Barnes 14 percent and the other two in the low single digits. Thirteen percent of likely voters were undecided.
Democratic socialists have performed well this year in solidly Democratic urban areas, and they hope to expand their reach into swing states that President Donald Trump has won. Hong offers a test case of how progressives can fare in such places, as does Abdul El-Sayed, who is running for Senate in Michigan’s Aug. 4 Democratic primary on a left-wing platform.
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Establishment Democrats worry that Hong can’t win the general election, but they have not coalesced around a single alternative to try to truncate her rise. The polling shows those challenges would continue even if they did rally behind someone.
In the only televised debate of the primary campaign Tuesday, Hong’s opponents took a hands-off approach. None of them used the debate to criticize her, even when moderators left them openings by asking Hong about her past calls to abolish the police.
The winner of the Democratic primary contest is expected to face U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, who has a nominal opponent in the Republican primary race.
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