Jim Geraghty of National Review Online assesses the field in Wisconsin’s gubernatorial primary, including a socialist contender.
With incumbent Democratic Governor Tony Evers deciding not to seek a third term, this is the first open governor’s race in Wisconsin since 2010. Here’s your classic swing state — Wisconsin been decided by less than a percentage point in each of the last three presidential elections — serving up a big test of the seemingly rising Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). Sure, the DSA can clean up in primaries in deep blue House districts, but that’s low-hanging fruit. Can a socialist candidate compete statewide? …
… Milwaukee is the only major American city to have elected three socialist mayors. There was a time, nearly a century ago, when the Socialist Party of America was a major force in the state’s politics. So, it’s not surprising that today’s Democratic Socialists of America would look at America’s Dairyland as one of their best shots at attaining real power at the state level.
But the DSA’s favorite candidate, 37-year-old State Representative Francesca Hong, will have to win in a crowded primary first. …
… She appeared on Hasan Piker’s podcast … and declared she supports abolishing ICE, creating public (meaning government run) grocery stores, “a free Palestine,” and creating “a Scott Walker statue that people can go to, that are made by local artisans and craftsmen that people can slap up if they want to.” (If Wisconsin socialists want to spend time slapping a Scott Walker statue and breaking bones in their hands, I see room for bipartisan compromise.)
You may recall this newsletter noting earlier this month that Capital One was asking Hong, quite literally, what was in her wallet, and why it hadn’t been used to pay down the $29,344 debt she had accumulated since 2011. … [I]t is hard to argue you will be a careful steward of the public’s finances when you are not a careful steward of your own finances.
