Socialism

Friends Like These

Plus: Groypers on the Hill, HOA lawsuits, and more...

Liz Wolfe | 8.3.2026 9:30 AM

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(legis.wisconsin.gov)

Francesca Hong's friends: Over the weekend, Wisconsin candidate for governor (and democratic socialist) Francesca Hong campaigned with streamer Hasan Piker, who wants to force non-socialists out of the Democratic Party (a view he expressed while wearing a Mao Zedong outfit), and Rep. Ilhan Omar (D–Minn.), who once accused Israel of having "hypnotized" the world.

The August 11 primary will determine which Democrat challenges Republican Tom Tiffany in November. Hong, a 37-year-old chef and bartender (in AOC fashion), is the frontrunner.

"When people want to fight for something together, when they see something they believe in, and they start to believe in one another, I think the Dems are going to have to write a new playbook here," Hong said at the rally. So what is it, exactly, that she's fighting for?

Hong wants the standard raft of policy proposals that politicians like New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani have promoted: universal taxpayer-funded childcare, schools funded by the "super-rich" (unclear what she means by that). Hong has also said she will roll back school vouchers, expand Medicaid, establish a public health insurance option for those without coverage currently, bring private insurance premiums down (unclear how), "crack down on claim denial processes," and "recognize gender-affirming care as medically necessary." She wants to establish a public bank to fund various business owners that she's deemed disadvantaged. "At the federal level, we need to abolish ICE and prosecute lawbreaking agents," says her website. "But here in Wisconsin, Fran will use the full force of the executive branch to protect Wisconsinites of all documentation status from secret police."

"The lowest-earning 20% of........

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