Wisconsin Electoral Socialists (WES) Endorses Rep. Francesca Hong for WI Governor and Rep. Ryan Clancy for Re-election to WI Assembly District 19

Milwaukee, WI — Today, Wisconsin Electoral Socialists (“WES”) announced its endorsements of Rep. Francesca Hong (D-76) for Wisconsin Governor and Rep. Ryan Clancy (D-19) for Wisconsin Assembly District 19. Hong and Clancy are seeking the Democratic nominations for their respective positions, with Hong facing an already crowded field of Democratic candidates. Wisconsin’s 2026 primary election is set for Tuesday, August 11th.

Both candidates currently serve in Wisconsin’s Assembly, where they are members of the Wisconsin Legislative Socialist Caucus. Rep. Hong represents part of Madison, beginning with the isthmus and stretching through the north and east sides of the city. Rep. Clancy represents part of Milwaukee, starting on the East Side and running south through his home neighborhood of Bay View.

Wisconsin Electoral Socialists (WES) is a membership organization founded in February of 2024 dedicated to supporting and campaigning for socialist candidates in Wisconsin. Both candidates submitted detailed questionnaires to WES and participated in interviews open to WES members, prior to endorsement.

WES has, through debate and consensus building, established clear but reasonable standards for candidates it endorses: among them a commitment to police and prison abolition and to the liberation of the Palestinian people. Both Rep. Hong and Rep. Clancy have clearly and intentionally aligned themselves with these vital political projects. We will hold them accountable for those commitments.

WES is committed to publicly and materially supporting the campaigns of its endorsed candidates. The organization is currently considering endorsements in other races at every level. Candidates interested in WES’ endorsement are welcome to contact the organization at wesocialists@gmail.com.

WES released the following statement:

“WES is proud to endorse Rep. Francesca Hong as the Wisconsin Democrats’ candidate for Governor and Rep. Ryan Clancy for re-election to Milwaukee’s District 19. Both candidates are principled, committed socialists who are consistently well-aligned with WES and its members’ values. Each has had those principles tested as a democratically-elected legislator and shown accountability to the communities that elected them.

Rep. Hong is the first credible socialist candidate for statewide office in Wisconsin in several generations. She has established herself as a leader in Wisconsin’s anticapitalist movement, having joined the Wisconsin Legislative Socialist Caucus in her second term, and is now proudly and openly running as a socialist for statewide office.Rep. Hong’s legislative record demonstrates both vision and competence at policy-making: she leads the Democratic caucus on providing healthy school meals to every K-12 public school student, and on defending Wisconsin’s public schools from defunding and privatization. She is co-sponsor of proposals to unmask and restrain ICE agents, to reduce property taxes by funding public education with a tax on multimillionaires, and a moratorium on data centers until protections for utility rate payers and the environment are secured. As a single mom, bartender, and former line cook, Fran Hong is clearly of the working class and for the working class.

We believe that Rep. Hong is part of the newest wave of democratic socialist optimism, the same wave that elected Zohran Mamdani mayor of New York City. She is running a campaign with policies that are both idealistic and practical: universal childcare, a public BadgerCare option, paid leave for all, and fully funded public schools. These are necessary to reverse decades of defunding and privatization and that directly confront Wisconsin’s affordability crisis while aligning with socialist values of universal, public services and goods. We endorse her both as a socialist and as the clearly best candidate among a field of powerful Democratic Party players – none of whom can match her clear principles, exciting and nationally important campaign, or small donor fundraising prowess. Her grassroots campaign has the potential and the momentum to transform Wisconsin for the better.

As Milwaukee County Supervisor, Rep. Clancy established himself as an outspoken abolitionist dedicated to ending mass incarceration in Wisconsin, with his efforts leading to material improvements in the County’s facilities. He helped establish the Right to Counsel for people in Milwaukee County facing eviction, a program that helped keep thousands of people in their homes, and that has barely survived defunding by Milwaukee County Executive (and Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate) David Crowley. Clancy is currently working to extend the program statewide. He is using that experience to craft transformative legislation at the state level including his seventeen bill Conditions of Confinement package.

Rep. Clancy has also very publicly faced misinformation, criticism, and derision from defenders of Israel’s ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people. He has built relationships with the growing Palestinian diaspora in the Milwaukee area and with antizionist Jewish organizations like Jewish Voices for Peace. He has already defeated a pro-Israel candidate hand picked by establishment Democrats. We are confident he will do so again.

WES is a growing socialist organization that makes decisions by consensus and adds members by consensus. Our members are excited to contribute their skills, experience, and labor to these campaigns, and those we endorse in the near future.”

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.