Francesca Hong
American chef and politician (born 1988)
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Francesca Hong (born November 4, 1988) is an American politician, former chef, and business owner who has represented Wisconsin's 76th Assembly district in the Wisconsin State Assembly since 2021. She is a member of the Democratic Party and the Democratic Socialists of America. Hong's district includes the downtown and east side of the state capital, Madison, as well as Maple Bluff.
Francesca Hong | |
|---|---|
Hong in June 2026 | |
| Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from the 76th district | |
| Assumed office January 4, 2021 | |
| Preceded by | Chris Taylor |
| Personal details | |
| Born | November 4, 1988 Madison, Wisconsin, U.S. |
| Party | Democratic |
| Spouse |
Matt Morris (divorced) |
| Children | 1 |
| Education | University of Wisconsin, Madison (attended) |
| Website | |
Hong is the first Asian-American member of the Wisconsin Legislature.[1] She formed the first Asian Caucus in the State Assembly in 2025 and is also a member of the Assembly Socialist Caucus. Hong is a candidate in the Democratic primary for governor of Wisconsin in the 2026 election and has been endorsed by Wisconsin-based chapters of the Democratic Socialists of America.
Early life and culinary career
Hong was born on November 4, 1988, in Madison, Wisconsin, to Korean-American immigrant parents.[2][3] As a child, she attended public schools in Madison, graduating from Madison West High School in 2007.[2] Hong played soccer growing up and played for West High.[4] Hong then attended the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where she studied Spanish and journalism, hoping to become a sports journalist.[5]
Hong dropped out in 2009 to work a full-time job, starting as a dishwasher and later becoming a line cook and sous chef.[3] In 2011, she became executive chef of the American bistro 43 North in Madison, which closed in 2016.[6][3][7] In 2016, Hong and her then-husband, Matt Morris, opened Morris Ramen in Madison.[5] The restaurant closed in 2024.[8] Also in 2016, Hong helped found the Culinary Ladies Collective, alongside fellow business owners Tami Lax and Laila Borokhim.[9]
Wisconsin State Assembly (2021–present)
Elections
In March 2020, incumbent state representative Chris Taylor announced she would not run for reelection to the Wisconsin State Assembly that year, creating an open seat in the heavily Democratic 76th Assembly district.[10] Hong, who at the time did not reside in the district, announced that she would run to succeed Taylor in the 2020 election.[11] Hong ran a progressive campaign, opposing the Madison police union and supporting allowing culinary workers to organize into unions, while also emphasizing her business experience as a chef and restaurant owner.[12][13] She won the seven-person primary with 28% of the vote, a six-point margin over the second-place finisher, Madison police officer Tyrone Cratic Williams.[12]
Hong defeated Republican Patrick Hull in the general election by a 77-point margin and was sworn in on January 4, 2021. She became the first Asian American state legislator in Wisconsin history.[14] In 2022, Hong was reelected unopposed. In May 2024, Hong was endorsed by the Madison Area chapter of Democratic Socialists of America.[15][16][17] In the 2024 elections, Hong was again reelected unopposed.
Tenure
During her first term in the legislature, Hong sponsored efforts to raise the tipped minimum wage[18] and introduced a bill to establish an Economic Bill of Rights in Wisconsin.[19] A supporter of environmental rights, she was among 10 people to sign up for a "dunk tank" fundraiser in Madison on August 1, 2021, to raise awareness about the importance of clean water.[20] After her 2022 reelection, Hong was appointed to the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) board of directors, to the seat controlled by the Assembly minority leader, Greta Neubauer.[21]
In February 2024, Hong backed reforms to implement paid family leave in the state.[22] As the state's first Asian American legislator, she was among those who introduced legislation to require that Wisconsin public schools teach Asian American and Hmong American history.[23] She said increased anti-Asian hate during the COVID-19 pandemic and the emergence of Asian voting blocs motivated her colleagues in the Assembly to support the change to the law.[23] Governor Tony Evers signed the bill into law in April 2024.[24]
During the 2024 Democratic Party presidential primaries, Hong backed the Uncommitted National Movement to protest President Joe Biden's policies in the Gaza war, and drafted a letter calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.[25] Hong also joined the State Assembly's Socialist Caucus in 2024.[26] In March 2025, Hong supported the Climate Accountability Act, which aimed to cut greenhouse gas emissions by half by 2030 and reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.[27] She also co-sponsored a bill establishing an Economic Bill of Rights in the state, which she had previously introduced in the 2021–2022 and 2023–2024 legislative sessions.[28] In May 2025, Hong formed the first Asian Caucus in the State Assembly with freshman representatives Angelito Tenorio and Renuka Mayadev.[29]
2026 Wisconsin gubernatorial campaign
After incumbent governor Tony Evers announced he would not run for a third term in the 2026 Wisconsin gubernatorial election, Hong expressed interest in seeking the Democratic nomination to succeed him.[30][31] She formally launched her campaign for governor on September 17, 2025, making comparisons to Rosie the Riveter, calling to fund public education and universal childcare, and vowing not to take corporate PAC campaign donations.[32] The Democratic primary field is crowded, including Madison state senator Kelda Roys, former lieutenant governor Mandela Barnes, and former Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Administration Joel Brennan.[33]
Hong has called herself the "wild card" in the race, running as a progressive outsider.[34] She has been compared to Zohran Mamdani, the mayor of New York City and a fellow democratic socialist.[35][36] Mamdani's mayoral campaign inspired Hong's gubernatorial campaign.[37][38] In September, during a campaign stop in Green Bay, Wisconsin, Hong proposed the creation of a public bank in the state, modeled on the Bank of North Dakota.[39] The proposed bank would provide affordable loans to small farms, butcheries, and bakeries and, according to Hong, promote competition and make goods more affordable.[40] In January 2026, Hong's campaign issued a press release calling for a moratorium on the construction of new AI data centers in the state.[41] The next month, she co-drafted a bill that would put a statewide moratorium on data centers.[42]
Personal life
Hong lives in Madison, Wisconsin, with her son.[2] She is a supporter of the Milwaukee Bucks and Forward Madison FC.[43] In 2021, she got a tattoo featuring the popular slogan "Bucks in Six" after the team's 2021 NBA championship.[44] Hong is a dues-paying member of Democratic Socialists of America and works part-time as a bartender.[45]
Electoral history
Wisconsin Assembly (2020–2024)
| Year | Election | Date | Elected | Defeated | Total | Plurality | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Primary[46] | Aug. 11 | Francesca Hong | Democratic | 4,793 | 28.15% | Tyrone Cratic Williams | Dem. | 3,810 | 22.37% | 17,029 | 983 |
| Marsha A. Rummel | Dem. | 2,803 | 16.46% | |||||||||
| Heather Driscoll | Dem. | 2,780 | 16.33% | |||||||||
| Nicki Vander Meulen | Dem. | 1,586 | 9.31% | |||||||||
| Ali Maresh | Dem. | 1,099 | 6.45% | |||||||||
| Dewey Bredeson | Dem. | 143 | 0.84% | |||||||||
| General[47] | Nov. 3 | Francesca Hong | Democratic | 35,731 | 88.02% | Patrick Hull | Rep. | 4,779 | 11.77% | 40,594 | 30,952 | |
| 2022 | General[48] | Nov. 8 | Francesca Hong (inc) | Democratic | 27,702 | 98.39% | --Unopposed-- | 28,154 | 27,250 | |||
| 2024 | General[49] | Nov. 5 | Francesca Hong (inc) | Democratic | 34,311 | 98.85% | 34,709 | 33,913 | ||||