Fran Hong's Wisconsin Congressional Campaign Tests Whether Democratic Socialism Can Win in the Midwest
By
smccroskey
Summary
This article profiles Fran Hong, a Democratic socialist candidate running for Congress in Wisconsin's 5th congressional district. It argues that despite conventional "electability" concerns, the state's radical political history—including the rise of the Socialist Party of America in Milwaukee and the legacy of figures like Victor Berger and Frank Zeidler—shows that socialist candidates can win in the Midwest. The piece positions Hong's campaign within a broader national wave of democratic socialist primary victories in 2026, and contends that her working-class message and grassroots organizing could overcome corporate Democratic opposition.
Source
bskyFran Hong's Wisconsin Congressional Campaign Tests Whether Democratic Socialism Can Win in the Midwestthenation.comKey quotes
· 3 pulledDemocratic socialism is having a moment in 2026. In congressional and big-city mayoral primaries across the country, candidates who support economic and social democracy are winning Democratic nominations—defeating incumbent members of the US House of Representatives, coming out on top in open-seat contests for mayoralties, and generally prevailing with a frequency that has corporate Democrats running scared.
Amid all the talk of 'electability,' a Midwestern state's radical history points to what's possible.
So, of course, defenders of the status quo politics that voters are so aggressively rejecting are trying to stop Fran Hong.
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