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Fox News anchor Dana Perino on Friday pressed Francesca Hong, the Democratic primary frontrunner in the Wisconsin governor’s race, over her association with the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) and past comments about law enforcement.
In social media posts in 2020, the gubernatorial candidate called to “defund the police” and stated that she supported defunding police “as a first step towards abolishing the police.”
Hong attempted to sidestep her past comments on “America’s Newsroom,” saying that she believes “people can evolve.”
“The governor cannot defund the police, and I won’t defund the police,” she said. “But I will invest in the things we know prevent crime … We have to be tough on causes if we want to prevent crime.”
The Democrat also addressed other past statements in which she supported abolishing the Senate and the U.S. Supreme Court in her Fox News interview on Friday, saying she no longer holds those positions.
When asked by Perino about her DSA membership, Hong said that she has been a member of her home chapter in Madison, Wisc., since 2020. She added that her identity as a democratic socialist candidate is “less defined by just one organization.”
“Clearly our bipartisan coalition means that I’m more defined by being a good single mom, that I’m a service industry worker, that I truly believe in legislation that helps everyone,” she said. “And these are the things that people want to talk about in rural and urban parts of the state.”
Hong is running to replace retiring Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, who has served as the state’s chief executive since 2019.
The democratic socialist is widely considered the frontrunner in the state’s Democratic primary on Aug. 11 after her top challenger, former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes (D), exited the race on Thursday.
Evers has endorsed Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, who has been polling in the single digits among the state’s likely primary voters. U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany (R-Wisc.) is the GOP frontrunner in the race.
A Marquette University Law School poll from earlier this month found Tiffany with a 3 percentage-point advantage over Hong in a theoretical November match up. The Republican received 43 percent support in this survey, compared to the 40 percent of support for Hong.
The Cook Political Report, a non-partisan election forecaster, rates the Wisconsin governor’s race as a “Toss Up.”
Hong also skirted questions about her past comments about abolishing the police on CNN’s State of the Union on Friday.
When pressed by CNN’s Dana Bash about whether her comment that “people can evolve” means Hong has changed her personal view on defunding the police, Hong repeated that the governor does not hold this power.
“I cannot defund police as governor and what I want to do is mak[e] sure that we’re fully funding and investing in the community programs that we know actually work,” the Democratic candidate said.
Tiffany slammed the Democrat over her past support for this cause.
“No amount of spin can erase @FrancescaHongWI’s own words,” he wrote in a Thursday social media post.
“She didn’t just advocate for defunding the police. She called to abolish them,” he continued.
Hong responded directly to her opponent’s criticism, writing in a social media post that she was “not running to defund the police.”
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