Frederica Freyberg:
Many elected officials in higher office come from the state legislature. State Representative Francesca Hong of Madison hopes she becomes one of them. Here she is with Zac Schultz.

Zac Schultz:
Francesca Hong, thanks for joining us.

Francesca Hong:
Happy to be here.

Zac Schultz:
For voters who don’t know you, give us an introduction of who you are and why you’re running for governor.

Francesca Hong:
I’m a state representative for the 76th district here in Madison. I am a proud single mom to my son George, and I’m a service industry worker. And so I owned a restaurant for seven years and worked as a chef. And I still work as a bartender and line cook. And I’m running for governor because we are in a moment of crisis and chaos. But we’re also in a movement moment. And as an organizer and as a working-class candidate, I think that it’s the right thing to do to fight alongside working-class people who are demanding change.

Zac Schultz:
Is there a single issue that drives you, or perhaps a lane within the Democratic Party, that may define you?

Francesca Hong:
Fully funding public education, universal child care, and expanding BadgerCare for all. These are universal policies addressing universal issues for Wisconsinites all across the state. And I think this moment demands a visionary, bold action and not incrementalism.

Zac Schultz:
Running for governor is very expensive. How much do you think you need to run to be competitive and what’s going to happen after the primary if you make it through that?

Francesca Hong:
We are proud to be a people powered grassroots campaign, and we have thousands of donors who have given from all across the state and in fact, 48 out of 50 states here in the country. And so raising has been less of a challenge that because we have so many volunteers and folks across the state who are committed to being a part of our movement.

Zac Schultz:
When it comes to a competitive primary, for you what’s — where do you draw the line between negative campaigning against a member of your own party versus defining differences between candidates?

Francesca Hong:
No. Crowded primaries are good for democracy, but I think in this moment, people are stressed and demanding bold change. And so we’re really focused on making sure that the issues that we see folks struggling with, with affordability and, you know, living in times of fascism, we want to make sure that we are naming the billionaires and the culprits of these issues, and then how the state is responsible for presenting and delivering solutions to help people live a life of dignity.

Zac Schultz:
When primary voters are looking at all the candidates, should they be focusing more on who’s more aligned with an issue that they support or electability?

Francesca Hong:
Electability is subjective, and I think that we need leadership, and the people are demanding leadership where politicians aren’t going to say one thing and do another. We want leadership with folks who are committed to moral courage and willing to do the hard thing, and not the politically expedient or politically comfortable thing.

Zac Schultz:
Most of the Democrats running in this campaign are either aligned with Milwaukee or Madison. What’s your plan to get out, introduce yourself to the rest of the state, especially those rural areas who feel unheard?

Francesca Hong:
I’ve had the privilege of traveling across the state for the last five years, since I was elected into the legislature. Whether it’s helping other candidates campaign in this for the state Assembly or being invited to speak at and meeting farmers and educators and people across the state. I’m going back to those communities and also meeting new ones. And I think that when we go to rural areas, suburban areas, urban areas, I’ve been so heartened by the diversity of people who are attending our events: Republicans, independents, Democrats. It’s been — and it’s multigenerational. I have learned so much from young people who are attending our events, and we’re going to continue to meet those communities where they are, regardless of what part of the state they’re in.

Zac Schultz:
What do you think the impact of Donald Trump will be on this primary?

Francesca Hong:
The fascist, authoritarian regime in the federal government is really creating a lot of chaos and uncertainty for working class people. And so beyond, you know, what is happening at the federal government, I think it’s important to stay focused on how we can deliver for working class people, meeting the urgency of this moment with universal policies that are actually going to change the material conditions of people’s lives at a pace and deliver, you know, as urgently and as quickly as we can.

Zac Schultz:
All right, Francesca Hong, thanks for your time.

Francesca Hong:
Thank you so much.