So far, the DSA candidate victories have all been in Deep Blue districts and are not generally indicative of what you might expect in more competitive races.
Well, that's not quite true. Graham Platner took Maine by storm and was driven out of the Maine Senate race under the same storm clouds that brought him into prominence. That was a bad sign for Democrats who want to keep the socialists at bay, and with good reason: socialism remains unpopular with the American people.
While it may be true that socialism isn't held in any higher regard today than a few years ago by most people, it sure is popular with the people who show up at the polls in a Democratic Party primary, and that is what matters most when getting on the ballot.
And it sure looks like DSA-candidate Francesca Hong will be the Democratic Party's gubernatorial candidate come November.
🚨NEW @StateNavigate POLL🚨
— Chaz Nuttycombe (@ChazNuttycombe) July 28, 2026
We polled the Wisconsin Democratic Governor Primary.
@FrancescaHongWI 44%@DavidCCrowley 15%@TheOtherMandela 14%@keldahelenroys 4%@joeltbrennan 4%@saraforwi 4%@missyforwi 1%
Undecided/Don't Remember 13%https://t.co/P1L4OWFe04
Hong is, objectively, a terrible choice for the position. Wisconsin is a swing state that has been trending right, but in this political environment, a Democrat would have a better-than-even chance of winning in an off-year election. Hong? Not so much.
That's not to say that she couldn't win; anything is possible. Jesse Ventura won in Minnesota after all, but he did so in an environment when everything was going swimmingly in the country, Minnesota had a massive budget surplus he promised to return, and college kids thought voting for him was a lark.
How much damage could he do?
Francesca Hong is:
— Orkin D. Avid fan (@socialconcarne) July 28, 2026
*4th place among people 65+
*3rd place among Black voters
And is still beating ass https://t.co/exxbo62jWm pic.twitter.com/c1j6JiB1yS
2026 is not 1998, when the tech stocks were soaring, and state coffers overflowed. The only constant is that the kids are excited by the crazy candidate, and unlike Ventura, Hong could do some real damage to the state.
Hong, like other socialist/communist candidates, relies heavily on younger voters, and her popularity drops precipitously once voters hit 45. And while she does quite well with most minorities, black voters are turned off by her, preferring Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley.
“She’s gonna win this primary,” said Chaz Nuttycombe, founder and executive director of State Navigate in an interview with WPR. He pointed to her being strongly favored among voters in the survey, and a strong backup choice to other candidates.
When pressed to make a choice, 44 percent of Democrats polled said they would vote for Hong, compared to 15 percent for Crowley and 14 percent for former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes. State Sen. Kelda Roys, former Department of Administration Secretary Joel Brennan and Rodriguez all had 4 percent support. Thirteen percent of voters said they did not know who they favored.
It’s the second poll in two weeks to name the democratic socialist as the leader in the primary. In a survey that did not include Crowley, the Marquette Law School Poll found Hong in the lead. But Marquette also found almost half of Democratic voters were still undecided about who they’d ultimately pick.
On Wednesday, Marquette will release another survey that reflects Crowley’s reentry.
Crowley just reentered the race after having dropped out earlier, so he still has room to rise between now and August 11th, the final date of voting.
But voting has begun, so at least some of Hong's momentum is locked in.
If Hong does manage to win this primary, it will be a real test of how the DSA message will play in November. Hong is trying to avoid some of those positions, but will be hampered by her track record of spouting off. For instance, she denies supporting ending the Senate, and her campaign accused her opponents of lying about it.
So… who’s going to tell Allison this post exists?@FrancescaHongWI’s ideas are so radical that her own campaign has to lie and pretend she never said them.https://t.co/G9qvqVKA1y pic.twitter.com/3t9dFjKLi4
— Tiffany War Room (@TiffanyWarRoom) July 28, 2026
And there's lots more where that comes from, although the Wisconsin media is determined to do cleanup for her.
Don't forget she wanted to abolish Thanksgiving too! pic.twitter.com/WHJqAUaKaS
— Debbie Schwenk (@debbie_schwenk5) July 28, 2026
Nah, we won't cover these obvious lies. She says something different now. Same as Snopes denying that Mamdani is a communist.
Sanewashing.
Will it work? We can only guess until people go to the polls in November, or should I say October, given early voting these days.
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