Wisconsinites have a high-stakes decision to make in the Democratic gubernatorial primary on August 11: whether or not to elect the first socialist governor in the state’s history, Francesca Hong.

A Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) member and college dropout who, before she was elected to the state legislature in 2020, had worked as a dishwasher, line cook, bartender, and chef, Hong is the front-runner in the race. Many voters remain undecided, though this number seems to have shrunk significantly in recent days. She has the support of a number of progressive organizations and unions across the state. And she seems to be outworking her opponents, none of whom have generated as much enthusiasm, assembled as many statewide volunteers, or received as much money from Wisconsin donors.

A daughter of Korean parents who immigrated to the United States in the 1980s, Hong grew up in Wisconsin. If she wins, she will become part of her home state’s rich socialist history. From 1905 to 1945, the Wisconsin legislature passed over five hundred pieces of legislation authored by socialists, and Wisconsinites sent a socialist to Congress and elected socialist mayors. In 2011, when Hong was in her early twenties, conservative Republican Governor Scott Walker gutted the state and wrenched it rightward, depriving tens of thousands of workers of long-held collective bargaining rights, crippling unions through a right-to-work law, and slashing aid to local schools and governments. Hong’s parents were public sector workers, and her family joined mass protests against Act 10, the 2011 law Walker championed that stripped most public sector workers of their collective bargaining rights.