Wisconsin Democratic gubernatorial frontrunner Francesca Hong sidestepped repeated questions about her past support for abolishing police during a Tuesday event at Marquette University in Milwaukee, sparking renewed scrutiny of her stance on law enforcement funding. Hong, a state representative and democratic socialist, was pressed by Politico reporter Jonathan Martin on whether she still wants to eliminate police departments, a position she advocated in a 2021 social media post following the police shooting of Jacob Blake.
«So, this system is not working,» Hong said during the exchange. «If we want to be serious, we better be putting these billions into things we know prevent crime.» When Martin asked directly if she still aimed to abolish police in the long term, Hong did not give a yes-or-no answer. Instead, she called for «systems of care» and redirecting criminal justice spending before a campaign aide intervened and ended the conversation. «I believe that we have to be serious about public safety, and I’m going to be a governor that is more serious than anyone else in making sure that we are building systems of care,» she said.
Hong’s campaign later clarified that her underlying values on police and prison abolition have not changed, though she now frames the issue differently. In a statement to Fox News Digital, campaign communications director Allison Geyer said, «Rep. Hong has spoken in the past about police and prison abolition as an aspirational goal, akin to eradicating disease or eliminating poverty. Her values haven’t changed, but the way she talks about this issue has.» Geyer’s comments came hours after Hong joined her four Democratic primary opponents in pledging not to sign a state budget that would cut police funding. «The governor cannot defund police, and I am not here to govern by slogan,» Hong said during the debate. «I am here to make sure I am the governor that’s most serious about public safety.»
The controversy traces back to Hong’s 2021 social media post following a federal decision not to charge the officer who shot Jacob Blake in Kenosha. «How is 7 bullets in the back not excessive force,» Hong wrote. «Police exist to uphold White supremacy. Defund then abolish. Reform can’t be an option.» She addressed the post in a May statement but did not then clarify whether she still supported the idea. «There is no way I want to cut resources for public safety,» she said at the time. «I don’t like crime. I don’t like unsafe streets. I also don’t like when a member of law enforcement abuses their power.» Hong’s campaign platform now emphasizes noncarceral crime-prevention programs, reentry services, red flag laws, universal background checks, and safe-storage requirements. The public safety section of her platform does not call for eliminating police departments or cutting their funding.
Hong’s rise in the polls has unsettled some Democrats who worry about her electability in the general election against the expected Republican nominee, Representative Tom Tiffany. A Marquette Law School poll released Wednesday showed Hong at 38% among Democratic primary voters, up from 26% a week earlier. Former Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes followed at 16%, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley had 7%, and 34% remained undecided. The survey of 407 primary voters had a 6.6-percentage-point margin of error. Joel Brennan, a former Wisconsin Department of Administration secretary under Democratic Governor Tony Evers, is running against Hong for the nomination. In a memo published by WisPolitics, Brennan argued that Republican ads were intended to elevate Hong «a candidate they are confident they can beat in November because of her extreme positions on defunding police, abolishing prisons and other views out of step with mainstream Wisconsin values.»
Democratic strategist Joe Zepecki, who is not supporting a primary candidate, said Republicans were «trying to pick an opponent they think they can beat.» He added, «Every Democratic campaign should call this out for what it is: a sneaky, underhanded, blatant attempt to meddle in the democratic process.» The Republican Governors Association has spent nearly $3.6 million on ads labeling Hong as dangerously liberal while emphasizing positions likely to appeal to progressive primary voters, according to a filing with the Wisconsin Ethics Commission reported by WisPolitics. As the August primary approaches, Hong’s ability to address her past statements on police abolition remains a central challenge in a race that will test the limits of progressive policies in a swing state.
