Democratic socialist leads Wisconsin Democratic gubernatorial field: Poll

A new poll has Democratic socialist Francesca Hong leading the field in Wisconsin’s Democratic gubernatorial primary, although a plurality of respondents were undecided.

The poll, conducted by Marquette Law School from July 8-16, found that 26 percent of 430 registered Democrats backed Hong, a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly since 2021. 

Former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes (D) received 15 percent support; Lt. Gov Sara Rodriguez (D), who dropped out of the race last week, after polling concluded, received 11 percent; Joel Brennan received 2 percent; state Sen. Kelda Roys (D) received 1 percent.

When Rodriguez’s supporters’ votes were transferred to their second choice, Barnes cut into Hong’s lead slightly, receiving 18 percent to her 27 percent.

But 48 percent of respondents were undecided, with less than three weeks remaining before the Aug. 11 primary. 

In hypothetical general election matchups against Rep. Tom Tiffany (R-Wisc.), the likely GOP nominee who has the support of President Trump, Barnes is the lone remaining Democrat with a lead, with 44 percent support to 40 percent for Tiffany. Hong, meanwhile, trailed the Republican 43 percent to 40 percent. 

Rodriguez suspended her bid on Friday, after her campaign manager, Kara Spencer, significantly over-reported how much money the campaign had by hundreds of thousands of dollars. Prior to dropping out, Rodriguez fired Spencer over what she called “serious mismanagement and inaccuracies” in the campaign’s financial filings.

Hong, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) has received endorsements from a slew of progressive lawmakers, including Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), as well as the DSA’s chapters in Milwaukee, northeast Wisconsin and the capital of Madison. 

She also is proposing guaranteed paid leave, a one-year moratorium on the construction of AI data centers and stronger antitrust enforcement in the agricultural sector. In 2020, Hong said she supported “defunding the police as a first step towards abolishing the police.”

Among Democratic respondents to the survey, 54 percent viewed democratic socialists favorably, while 10 percent viewed them unfavorably and 36 percent said they had not heard enough to have an opinion.

The Marquette survey had a margin of error of 6.1 percentage points among Democratic primary voters. 

After polling concluded and a day after Rodriguez exited the race, former Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley restarted his campaign. Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D), who decided not to seek a third term in office, backed Crowley a day later. 

In a statement, Evers called Crowley the “best candidate” to beat Tiffany in November. 

“I’m all in on making sure Wisconsinites continue to have a governor who will stand up for the people of our state, who understands the challenges facing working families and has real plans to help, and who will work to do the right thing when it matters most, and that’s why I’m all in on David Crowley — and I’m urging Wisconsinites to join me in supporting him,” Evers added.

But NBC News reported Wednesday that a social media account Crowley had access to posted crude messages in the early to mid 2010s. Crowley’s campaign told the outlet the former county executive “was one of many people” with access to the account, while the candidate himself said he “would never say these things.”

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