MADISON, Wis. – For a second straight week, the Midwest is the key battlefield in the high-stakes fight between the left-wing and the center-left establishment for the future of the Democratic Party.
After far-left candidate narrowly edged out more moderate Rep. Haley Stevens a week ago in battleground Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary, which was the biggest stage to date in the party’s ideological civil war, the spotlight now shifts to statewide nomination showdowns Tuesday in Wisconsin and Minnesota.
At stake: a top-tier Senate showdown in Minnesota that’s among a dozen races nationwide that will determine if the Democrats can win back control of the chamber from the GOP, and a gubernatorial face-off in crucial swing-state Wisconsin where Republicans are aiming to flip the governor’s mansion.
Also on the ballot, as Minnesota and Wisconsin join Connecticut, Vermont, South Carolina, and Alabama in holding primaries: incumbent governors in Connecticut and Vermont are running to extend their tenures, and the power of President ‘s endorsement in a GOP nomination contest is on the line in South Carolina, in the race to succeed the late Sen. Lindsey Graham.
“Michigan proved that working people are ready for something different, and Wisconsin is next,” for governor Francesca Hong wrote following El-Sayed’s victory.
Hong, a state representative and (DSA) member, is the polling frontrunner in a Democratic gubernatorial nomination showdown that’s been rocked this summer after two major contenders dropped out, and another candidate re-entered the race.
The primary winner will likely face off in the general election with Republican Rep. Tom Tiffany, the overwhelming polling and fundraising frontrunner for the , in the race to succeed Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, who decided against running for a third term. Tiffany, who is backed by Trump, is a hard-right member of the House Freedom Caucus.
Hong, a 37-year-old former chef and single mother, is backed by top nationally known progressives, including Reps. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Ro Khanna of California, a potential 2028 Democratic presidential contender. But Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, a longtime champion of the left, last week said he didn’t plan on endorsing Hong, arguing that he was not familiar enough with her campaign or the race.
Hong is running on a platform that includes guaranteed paid leave, boosting the state’s minimum wage from $7.25 to $20 per hour, and a one-year moratorium in Wisconsin on building AI data centers. Hong has faced scrutiny over years-old social media posts calling for defunding and abolishing the police. But she says she no longer supports cutting police budgets or abolishing police departments.
“I’m not defunding the police, not abolishing police. I am serious about public safety,” Hong emphasized on Saturday as she took questions from voters.
Hong also made national headlines over the past two weeks for a resurfaced social media post from 2020 where she argued that the country should “cancel Thanksgiving” in order to “stop celebrating colonialism.”
Hong walked back her Thanksgiving comments, amid backlash, and now says that Thanksgiving is her “favorite holiday.”
On her resurfaced tweets, Hong told reporters on Saturday that she has “evolved” and “learned.”
Tiffany, in an interview on the eve of the primary as he teamed up for a couple of campaign events with former Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, told Fox News Digital that Wisconsin will be a “firewall⦠Well be the place that stops socialism.”
Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez and former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, two of the major contenders for the Democratic nomination, exited the race this summer. And Mi
