Francesca Hong says what’s radical is US still has $7.25 minimum wage

Campaign Francesca Hong says what’s radical is US still has $7.25 minimum wage Comments: by Tara Suter - 08/02/26 3:27 PM ET Comments: Link copied by Tara Suter - 08/02/26 3:27 PM ET Comments: Link copied

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Wisconsin Democratic gubernatorial candidate Francesca Hong, a democratic socialist, said Sunday that the U.S.’s current minimum wage is radical.

When asked by NewsNation’s Chris Stirewalt on “The Hill Sunday” about Republican candidate Rep. Tom Tiffany possibly calling her “a radical trans activist,” Hong responded with a retort about the federal minimum wage.

“What’s radical is that we still have a $7.25 minimum wage. What’s radical is that Tom Tiffany is an election denier. What is radical is the fact that folks all across Wisconsin, many don’t have access to health care right now,” Hong said.

“Being able to make sure folks have what they need, when they need them from the state, is something that I believe many Wisconsinites have actually been telling me, that these are the things that they want to prioritize,” she added.

Hong had a double-digit lead in the Democratic primary for Wisconsin governor in a recent poll.

A Marquette University Law School poll released last week found Hong in first place, with 38 percent support in the Democratic field. Former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes placed second in the poll with 16 percent and Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley followed at 7 percent.

Hong is among many recent progressive candidates who have burst onto the national political scene, taken on more establishment figures in primaries and seen success. Some of these candidates are democratic socialists, including New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D), who took down former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the Big Apple’s Democratic mayoral primary last year.

Mamdani and fellow New York democratic socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D) are also currently some of the most discussed figures in Democratic politics.

The Hill has reached out to Tiffany’s campaign for comment.

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