{"id":8323,"date":"2026-07-29T20:09:17","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T20:09:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=8323"},"modified":"2026-07-29T20:09:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T20:09:17","slug":"establishment-fails-to-stop-rise-of-democratic-socialist-in-wisconsin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=8323","title":{"rendered":"Establishment fails to stop rise of democratic socialist in Wisconsin"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"\"<\/figure>\n\n
Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate Francesca Hong during Tuesday’s Democratic primary debate in Milwaukee. (Nam Y. Huh\/AP)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

MADISON, Wis. \u2014 A democratic socialist is surging<\/a> in Wisconsin\u2019s Democratic primary race for governor, and establishment figures are showing no signs of stopping her.<\/p>

Read more Confusion escalates about whether TPS has actually ended for Haitians<\/a><\/p>\n

Polling this week shows that state Rep. Francesca Hong is well-positioned to win the five-way primary on Aug. 11.<\/p>\n

She had 38 percent of the vote in a survey<\/a> 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 \u2014 state Sen. Kelda Roys and former state administration secretary Joel Brennan \u2014 trailed with 2 percent each. More than a third of those polled were <\/b>undecided.<\/p>\n

Hong also led in a State Navigate poll<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n

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<\/a> in Michigan\u2019s Aug. 4 Democratic primary on a left-wing platform.<\/p>

Read more Democrats toughen their midterm message: \u2018Hold the crooks accountable\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

Establishment Democrats worry that Hong can\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n

In the only televised debate of the primary campaign Tuesday, Hong\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Catch up quickly every weekday morning with a rundown of the 7 most important and interesting stories. <\/i>Sign up for The 7 newsletter<\/i><\/a>.<\/i><\/p>

Read more Blanche\u2019s AG nomination in doubt as a critical Republican remains unsatisfied<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Establishment Democrats worry Hong can\u2019t win the general election, but they\u2019ve failed to coalesce around a single alternative to try to truncate her rise.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8321,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8323","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nEstablishment fails to stop rise of democratic socialist in Wisconsin - Moving Insider USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=8323\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Establishment fails to stop rise of democratic socialist in Wisconsin - Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Establishment Democrats worry Hong can\u2019t win the general election, but they\u2019ve failed to coalesce around a single alternative to try to truncate her rise.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=8323\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-29T20:09:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/55239accf902223b022badb55505b067-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=8323#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=8323\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\"},\"headline\":\"Establishment fails to stop rise of democratic socialist in Wisconsin\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-29T20:09:17+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=8323\"},\"wordCount\":402,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=8323#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/9643787a534f50a9a80b63e9f19b3f8e-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=8323#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=8323\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=8323\",\"name\":\"Establishment fails to stop rise of democratic socialist in Wisconsin - Moving Insider USA\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=8323#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=8323#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/9643787a534f50a9a80b63e9f19b3f8e-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-29T20:09:17+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=8323#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=8323\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=8323#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/9643787a534f50a9a80b63e9f19b3f8e-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/9643787a534f50a9a80b63e9f19b3f8e-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707,\"caption\":\"Democratic gubernatorial candidate Francesca Hong talks during a primary debate in Milwaukee, Tuesday, July 28, 2026. 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