Progressives could score a huge Wisconsin win Tuesday. Some national figures don’t want to touch it.

Progressives are on the cusp of a huge win. Their biggest stars are staying away. - POLITICO

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Progressives are on the cusp of a huge win. Their biggest stars are staying away.

Francesca Hong hasn’t drawn big name backers like Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to her gubernatorial campaign, unlike other candidates this cycle.

!Francesca Hong sits for a portrait.

*Wisconsin Democratic gubernatorial candidate Francesca Hong sits for a portrait at Paradigm Coffee and Music in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, on Aug. 8, 2026.

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Jamie Kelter Davis for POLITICO*

By Meredith Lee Hill, Samuel Benson and Tyler Katzenberger

08/11/2026 04:45 AM EDT

MADISON, Wisconsin — Progressives believe they are on the cusp of another major victory against the establishment in the Wisconsin governor primary Tuesday — one that could pave the way for the movement in 2028 and beyond.

But so far, many national progressive leaders want nothing to do with the race.

A win by front-runner and democratic socialist Francesca Hong over Gov. Tony Evers’ handpicked successor David Crowley would be a major shockwave, setting up a key opportunity for the progressive movement to show its brand of politics can succeed in one of the most cutthroat battleground states. Some progressive organizers also argue that a Hong win serves as a test run of sorts for potential 2028 presidential contenders like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.).

But the stars of the left like Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) have not endorsed Hong despite having hit the trail for other prominent candidates, including Michigan Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed. And a few have privately raised questions about the sharpness of Hong’s messaging and electability, as she navigates a series of controversies over her old social media posts advocating for canceling Thanksgiving and defunding the police — comments she now calls “bad takes” that she says she has learned from.

And other leaders say they aren’t familiar with who she is, underscoring the work Hong has ahead of her if she wins Tuesday.

“I don’t know her,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said in a brief hallway interview.

Sanders has said he would not endorse Hong and declined to comment when asked by POLITICO about the race last Friday on Capitol Hill. Two people close to the senator, granted anonymity to discuss the private conversations, said that even as Hong has invoked Sanders’ name and political ideology on the campaign trail, he doesn’t know her personally. Sanders has acknowledged he’s met Hong before, but indicated that’s the extent of their relationship.

!Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) ascends on an escalator.

*Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) ascends on an escalator on his way to a vote at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, on July 30.

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Francis Chung/POLITICO*

Those two people added that Hong is less vetted and not as sharp on some of her messaging than other candidates — presenting more of a risk for Sanders, who has already been burned by endorsing Graham Platner in the Maine Senate race.

Ocasio-Cortez also declined to endorse Hong. “My focus has been in winning back the Congress, winning back the House, and positioning ourselves to have the best chance possible to win the Senate,” Ocasio-Cortez said in a recent interview on ABC’s “This Week.”

Both Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez, along with their advisers, say they’re more focused on control of Congress, and rarely endorse in state-level contests. But their lack of involvement, or even public encouragement of Hong’s campaign, could foretell just how immense a task Hong faces as she tries to convince moderate Democrats, independents and even people within her own progressive movement that she’s electable in November against Donald Trump-backed Republican Rep. Tom Tiffany.

General elections in the battleground state have been determined by extremely narrow margins in recent years. Trump won the battleground state in 2024 by just shy of 30,000 votes. Joe Biden won it by fewer than 21,000 votes in 2020.

Watch: The Conversation

Dasha Burns presses Mike Johnson on the economy, Iran and Trump's agenda

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Dasha Burns presses Mike Johnson on the economy, Iran and Trump's agenda

!Francesca Hong.

*People listen to Hong speak at Paradigm Coffee and Music in Sheboygan on Aug. 8.

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Jamie Kelter Davis for POLITICO*

!Volunteers canvass for Francesca Hong.

*Volunteers canvass for Hong in Green Bay.

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Jamie Kelter Davis for POLITICO*

Some Democratic officials in Wisconsin privately note Republicans have a big opportunity to hammer Hong on democratic socialism, which had a net negative rating among all registered voters in a July Marquette Law School poll.

But in spite of the hesitation from some top leaders of the left, a number of progressive groups are on board with her campaign.

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“If Francesca Hong is elected the governor of Wisconsin, people are going to see somebody working very, very rigorously as the governor, like \[Zohran] Mamdani is as the mayor of New York, to pursue a set of policies that people are rapidly going to recognize are in their best interests,” said Alan Minsky, executive director of Progressive Democrats of America. “They’re going to embrace \[Hong] as much as they have Mamdani, whose popularity right now is off the charts.”

On whether she can dispel electability criticisms that moderate Democrats often lob at progressives, Minsky said: “The proof will be in the pudding in November.”

A few federal-level progressive lawmakers have traveled to Wisconsin to campaign with Hong, including Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.). Hong has also channeled progressive star power in other ways: leftist influencer Hasan Piker rallied with her in Milwaukee earlier this month. Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) has also endorsed Hong.

!Francesca Hong greets Ilhan Omar on stage.

*Hong, left, g