Francesca Hong sidesteps questions of police disbandment in Milwaukee debate
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Wisconsin Democratic Socialist Rep. Francesca Hong, the Democratic front-runner in the governor’s race, dodged repeated questions from Politico reporter Jonathan Martin on Tuesday at Marquette University in Milwaukee about whether she still wants to get rid of the police, following a televised debate in which she promised to preserve legal aid funding amid her previous scrutiny.
“So this plan doesn’t work,” said Hong. “If we want to be determined, we’d better put these billions into things that we know will prevent crime.”
Martin asked if Hong still wants to get rid of the police in the long run. Hong didn’t answer yes or no, instead calling for “maintenance programs” and redirecting the use of criminal justice before a campaign aide fired him.
“I believe we have to be serious about public safety, and I will be a governor more serious than anyone else in making sure we build care systems,” Hong said.
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Gubernatorial candidate Francesca Hong speaks on stage during the Wisconsin Democrats 2026 Convention on June 14, 2026, in Madison, Wis. (Getty Images for WisDems)
Hong campaign communications director Allison Geyer told Fox News Digital on Wednesday that the candidate has not changed his policies on depolicing and decriminalizing prisons, although he is now taking a different tack on the issue.
“Rep. Hong has talked in the past about abolishing the police and abolishing prisons as an aspirational goal, like ending disease or ending poverty,” Geyer said. “His values have not changed, but the way he talks about this issue.”
Hours earlier, the moderators asked Hong and his four Democratic opponents if they would sign a federal budget that cuts police funding. All five said no.
“The governor can’t give the police money, and I didn’t come to rule with a slogan,” said Hong. “I am here to make sure that I am a governor who is very serious about public safety.”
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Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate Francesca Hong. (Matthew Ludak of The Washington Post via Getty Images)
The exchange renewed scrutiny of Hong’s comments following the 2020 police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha. Hong called for the police to be fired in 2021 in a social media post after federal prosecutors declined to charge the officer who shot Blake.
“What about the 7 letters on the back are not very powerful,” said Hong. “The police are there to support White supremacy. The loan sharking will end. Conversion will not be an option. My heart aches for the suffering the Blake family and their community continues to endure.”
He addressed the controversy in a May statement to Fox News Digital but did not say at the time whether he continued to support the abolition of the police.
“There is no way I want to cut back on services for the safety of the public,” Hong said. “I don’t like crime. I don’t like unsafe roads. I also don’t like when a member of the law uses his power recklessly.”
On Tuesday, Hong’s campaign told Fox News Digital that the candidate does not remember a social media post he made in 2021 saying “Abolish the Senate” after the body failed to impeach President Donald Trump during the impeachment trial.
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Francesca Hong, a Democratic state representative and socialist candidate for governor of Wisconsin, speaks to voters at a retirement home, Tuesday, July 7, 2026, in Madison, Wis. (Photo by Scott Bauer/AP)
Hong’s campaign platform calls for state support for arrestable crime prevention programs, re-entry services, red flag laws, universal background checks and safe storage requirements. Its public safety division does not want police departments to be eliminated or their funding cut.
A Marquette Law School poll released Wednesday showed Hong at 38% of Democratic primary voters, up from 26% last week. Former Lt. Gov. Mandella Barnes followed with 16%, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley had 7%, and 34% remained undecided. The poll of 407 primary voters had a margin of error of 6.6 percentage points.
Hong’s rise has rattled Democrats worried about a November contest against Republican nominee Rep. Tom Tiffany.
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Joe Zepecki, a Democratic strategist who is not backing a primary candidate, said Republicans were “trying to pick an opponent they think they can beat.”
“All Democratic campaigns must expose this for what it is: a fraudulent, illegal, blatant attempt to interfere with the democratic process,” Zepecki said in comments published by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Joel Brennan, former secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Administration under Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, is running against Hong for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination.
In a memo published by WisPolitics, Brennan said the ads are intended to promote Hong, “a candidate they hope can defeat in November because of his extreme positions on depolice, prison abolition and other views that are inconsistent with Wisconsin’s common values.”
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Citing a request from the Wisconsin Ethics Commission, WisPolitics reported that the Republican Governors Association spent nearly $3.6 million on ads that labeled Hong as dangerously liberal while emphasizing positions likely to attract progressive primary voters.
