Francesca Hong has been a leading Democratic candidate in Wisconsin’s race for governor, and her popularity was clear throughout her visit to campus. Organizers pulled chairs from neighboring rooms to accommodate the roughly 50 students there to hear from Hong. Dressed for the occasion in a hat from The Root Note, a local coffee shop in La Crosse, Hong entered the room accompanied by cheers and applause from students eager to hear from her.
Hong’s discussion covered a variety of issues, but there were three recurring themes: artificial intelligence (AI), affordable housing and her campaign as a democratic socialist.
When introducing herself, Hong began with the story of her parents’ immigration, explaining how both pursued education and received degrees at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Unlike her family, Hong didn’t graduate as a Badger–or at all.
While her parent’s story began with education, Hong pointed out that hers began with dropping out of college.
“I’m incredibly proud to be a service industry worker. It is who I am, and it is who I will always be,” Hong said.
Since leaving college, Hong owned a restaurant for seven years and now works as an executive chef.
“It’s where I shaped my values for leadership. Leadership means to me that it’s only important if you can foster leadership in others. If you help others become organized, become great employers, become good people to work with in the community. Those are the values I bring to my job as a state representative and [they’re the values] I will bring as governor,” said Hong.
Hong was first sworn in as Wisconsin’s 76th Assembly District Representative in 2021, becoming the first Asian American to serve in Wisconsin’s state legislature. She has since been reelected twice before announcing her campaign for governor.
“There have been a lot of decisions [over the past] 15 years that are made about you [Gen Z], without you. I’m sorry,” Hong said. She stressed to the younger audience the importance of holding elected officials accountable. “Authoritarianism and fascism want us to stop dreaming, to stop thinking we deserve better. And the minute we do that, that’s when fascism works.”
After her introduction, Hong opened the floor to questions. Students quickly jumped at the opportunity to hear her perspective on issues important to them.
One of the first questions addressed her stance on the emerging data centers across the state and their impact on agricultural land.
“When it comes to data centers, it’s important to remember that the speed and scale in which they are being built across the country is deliberate because they probably predicted the amount of bipartisan backlash to these centers being built,” Hong said.
She noted the “loose” environmental regulations in Wisconsin, making it difficult to quickly challenge construction and contributing to rising utility bills.
“Our plan is CTRL, ALT, DELETE. We want to be controlling our alternative energies and resources and deleting corporate subsidies,” Hong said.
The conversation then shifted to affordable housing. Hong referenced the pilot program in Madison involving the city, university and developers working together to create more affordable college housing. She voiced support for local governments having more control–particularly in reforming zoning laws that restrict development.
Beyond student housing, Hong discussed her experience working on policies to make homeownership more accessible. She helped introduce a bill that would provide grants for first-time home buyers and proposed the idea of a public bank.
“This would allow developers to have lower interest, predictable financing, because the cost of building is going up,” she said. “It can incentivize more affordable sounding projects,” said Hong.
Hong’s candidacy as a democratic socialist also prompted questions from students, particularly about how it distinguishes her from other Democratic candidates.
“As a democratic socialist my principles are rooted in democracy, fairness and human rights. We want fair taxation. We want to make sure that we have democratic control of the economy instead of having the economy controlled by the billionaires and politicians that answer to special interest billionaires,” Hong replied.
When asked about billionaire influence in politics, Hong added, “We’re in a political moment right now, more people than ever, feel like they’re getting screwed—that something in the system is not working, that there are billionaires controlling more than they could’ve thought…”
After addressing what she described as government corruption, Hong pointed to her legislative accomplishments. “I passed a bipartisan bill on race and inclusion and diversity in this state. Those are wins we can’t take for granted.”
“I’m not interested in advancing democratic socialist as a brand.” Hong said, emphasizing her values over political labels.
As the event concluded, students stayed afterward for the opportunity to meet Hong and take photos. She encouraged those who didn’t get to ask a question to reach out via Instagram (@FrancescaHong.wi) or email ([email protected]).
