GOP Spends Big To Define Hong, But Is It Helping Her Instead?
Republican Governors Association ads attack Hong on immigration and policing, as Democrats warn of primary meddling.
State Rep. Francesca Hong speaks at a governor candidate forum Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026, at the Cooperage in Milwaukee, Wis. Angela Major/WPR
A $2.2 million television ad campaign by the Republican Governors Association says Francesca Hong is “too liberal for Wisconsin” and that she wants Wisconsin to return to its “progressive roots.”
The 30-second spot, which started airing Thursday, is structured as an attack ad against the Madison Assembly representative, a high-profile democratic socialist and a leading candidate for governor. It accuses Hong of “oppos(ing) President Trump’s deportation agenda” and wanting to ban law enforcement from working with the U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
But some Democrats, including Hong’s opponents, say the GOP ad buy is aimed not at tearing Hong down but at building her up with the Democratic primary electorate.
“(Presumptive Republican nominee) Tom Tiffany and his allies know they can’t defend their failed agenda that’s jacking up costs for Wisconsin families,” said Joe Zepecki, a Democratic strategist who is not supporting any of the candidates in the primary. “So rather than even try, they’re resorting to trying to pick an opponent they think they can beat. Every Democratic campaign should call this out for what it is: a sneaky, underhanded, blatant attempt to meddle in the democratic process.”
The Hong campaign doesn’t appear to see the television ads as a problem.
On social media, Hong thanked RGA for “highlighting” her Keep Families Together legislative package.
“Here in Wisconsin, we take care of our neighbors,” Hong wrote.
But RGA communications director Kollin Crompton said once voters learn about Hong’s record, they will see she is too liberal for Wisconsin.
“It’s time that Wisconsin voters start to learn just how dangerously liberal Democrat frontrunner Francesca Hong truly is,” Crompton said in a statement.
Like Zepecki, Hong’s Democratic opponents are asking voters to disregard the messages in the ad.
Joel Brennan, the former head of the state Department of Administration in the administration of Gov. Tony Evers, said in a campaign email that the ads are meant to boost Hong, “a candidate they are confident they can beat in November because of her extreme positions on defunding police, abolishing prisons and other views out of step with mainstream Wisconsin values.”
The Barnes campaign wrote that some Democrats are worried Hong winning will deliver Tiffany to the governor’s mansion.
“Republicans appear to agree,” wrote the campaign of former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes. “The 30-second ad … criticizes Ms. Hong for being too liberal, in what appears to be a counterintuitive strategy to grow her appeal among Democratic primary voters.”
Also running in the Democratic primary are Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez and state Sen. Kelda Roys. The election is Aug. 11.
Hong and Barnes have led in opinion polling throughout the race. Rodriguez was gaining momentum until this week when she announced her campaign was in financial crisis. The latest fundraising data showed that Barnes raised the most money in the first half of 2026.
Hong’s campaign comes as democratic socialists and candidates of color are gaining popularity across America in Democratic primaries.
In 2010, a Gallup poll showed 50 percent of Democrats had a favorable view of socialism. As of last year, before the victories of New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson, that number had risen to 66 percent.
Hong spokesperson Allison Geyer said if Republicans think there’s a strategic advantage to boosting this campaign, the strategy is likely to backfire spectacularly in the long run.
“If the Republican Governors Association wants to spend $2 million introducing Wisconsin voters to our platform of permanent affordability, standing up to the Trump administration and doing the right thing for our immigrant neighbors, all we can say is ‘thank you,’” Geyer said.
Update: Sara Rodriguez ended her campaign Friday morning.
GOP-funded ads attack Hong as too liberal. Dems say they’re trying to boost her profile. was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.
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