Francesca Hong
Francesca Hong (born November 4, 1988) is an American chef, community organizer, and Democratic politician from Madison, Wisconsin. She has served in the Wisconsin State Assembly since January 2021, representing the 76th district, and she is the first Asian American member of Wisconsin’s Legislature. Hong is a candidate in the Democratic primary for governor of Wisconsin in 2026.
Hong grew up in Madison with Korean American immigrant parents and attended public schools, finishing Madison West High School in 2007. She attended the University of Wisconsin–Madison but left in 2009 to work full time, studying Spanish and journalism. She began working at 43 North Restaurant as a dishwasher and progressed to line cook, sous chef, and eventually executive chef by 2011. In 2016, she and her then-husband Matt Morris opened Morris Ramen (the restaurant closed in February 2024). She also helped found the Culinary Ladies Collective in 2016.
In 2020, when incumbent Chris Taylor did not seek re-election in the 76th district, Hong ran for the open seat. She ran a progressive campaign supporting union rights for culinary workers and opposing the Madison police union. Hong won the primary with about 28% of the vote and defeated Republican Patrick Hull in the general election by a wide margin, taking office on January 4, 2021. Her election made her the first Asian American state legislator in Wisconsin.
During her first term, Hong worked on raising the tipped minimum wage and introduced a bill to establish an Economic Bill of Rights in Wisconsin. She supported environmental causes, including a fundraiser to raise awareness about clean water. She was re-elected unopposed in 2022 and was appointed to the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) board of directors.
In 2024, Hong supported paid family leave reforms, backed a ceasefire letter regarding Gaza, and received endorsement from the Madison Area chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America. She was re-elected unopposed again in 2024 and joined the State Assembly’s Socialist Caucus. In 2025, she supported the Climate Accountability Act to reduce emissions and co-sponsored another Economic Bill of Rights.
That year, Hong formed Wisconsin’s first Asian Caucus with Angelito Tenorio and Renuka Mayadev. In September 2025, after Governor Tony Evers announced he would not seek a third term, Hong announced her run for governor, positioning herself as a progressive outsider who would fund public education and universal childcare and decline corporate PAC donations. Her campaign has included proposals like creating a public bank modeled on the Bank of North Dakota and, in early 2026, calling for a moratorium on new AI datacenters in the state. Hong lives in Madison with her son and is a longtime member of the Democratic Socialists of America.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 18:17 (CET).