Wisconsin has long served as a proving ground for American politics. It gave rise to Progressive Era reforms and Milwaukee’s socialist tradition, but it also became a laboratory for the Right under Governor Scott Walker, whose assault on organized labor helped reshape Republican politics nationwide. Today, with economic insecurity, corporate power, and rural decline fueling widespread dissatisfaction, the state remains one of the country’s most consequential political battlegrounds.

State Representative Francesca Hong believes Democrats have misread that discontent. A chef, small business owner, and democratic socialist, Hong is running for governor on an unapologetically working-class platform centered on universal childcare, labor rights, public education, and confronting corporate influence. Rather than moderating her politics to appeal to swing voters, she argues that bold economic populism is the best way to rebuild a durable majority across Wisconsin’s urban and rural divides.

For Jacobin Radio’s podcast The Dig, host Daniel Denvir sat down with Francesca Hong to discuss Wisconsin’s political contradictions, the legacy of Walker’s antiunion agenda, organizing beyond Madison and Milwaukee, challenging Democratic Party orthodoxy, and why she believes a democratic socialist campaign can win in one of the nation’s most closely contested states. You can listen to the episode (which also features conversations with a number of other left-progressive electoral challengers) here.