A super PAC tied to Republicans is spending $2.2 million on television advertisements that appear to be aimed at boosting the chances of Francesca Hong, a Democratic candidate for governor in Wisconsin.
Some Democrats in the state have fretted over the prospect that Ms. Hong, a democratic socialist with unabashedly left-wing views in a distinctly purple state, might advance out of a crowded August primary — and then deliver the governor’s mansion to Representative Tom Tiffany, the likely Republican nominee, in November.
Republicans appear to agree. The PAC running a new ad about Ms. Hong, Right Direction Wisconsin, is tied to the Republican Governors Association. The 30-second ad, which will begin airing on Thursday in liberal parts of the state, including Madison and Milwaukee, criticizes Ms. Hong for being too liberal, in what appears to be a counterintuitive strategy to grow her appeal among Democratic primary voters.
Both parties have used similarly misleading tactics in the opposing party’s primaries around the country this year, seeking to boost candidates they perceive as weak in general-election matchups.
Joe Zepecki, a Democratic strategist in Wisconsin, decried the Republican effort as a “pathetic” attempt to paper over the party’s own challenges with voters in the state.
“Every Democratic campaign for governor — including Hong’s — should call this out for what it is: A sneaky, underhanded, blatant attempt to meddle in the democratic process,” he said.
As support for democratic socialism has surged, socialist candidates have won contests in deep-blue congressional and mayoral races. But Ms. Hong is attempting to prove that left-wing economic policies are popular even among swing voters. President Trump carried Wisconsin in 2024. In her primary, she faces several more mainstream candidates, including current Lt. Gov Sara Rodriguez and former Lt. Gov Mandela Barnes.
The new ad targets Ms. Hong’s immigration policy, noting that she supports abolishing the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. Pulling from clips from her interview with Hasan Piker, a progressive livestreamer, it says that her agenda “opposes President Trump’s deportation policies, and she wants to abolish ICE.”
“That’s Francesca Hong. Too liberal for Wisconsin,” the ad says — a likely attempt at reverse psychology to persuade progressive voters to back her.
“It’s time that Wisconsin voters start to learn just how dangerously liberal Democrat front-runner Francesca Hong truly is,” Kollin Crompton, a spokesman for the Republican Governors Association, said in a statement.
“The RGA’s decision to attack Rep. Hong for protecting immigrant families during a week marked by three more ICE-related deaths is deeply disturbing,” Allison Geyer, a spokeswoman for Ms. Hong, said in a statement. She did not comment on the strategy of Republicans potentially boosting Ms. Hong’s chances.
The post G.O.P. Appears to Boost Socialist’s Primary Campaign for Wisconsin Governor appeared first on New York Times.
