Sen. Bernie Sanders says he does not plan to endorse Wisconsin's democratic socialist gubernatorial front-runner Francesca Hong, a snub that leaves the embattled candidate without one of the progressive left's biggest names heading into Tuesday's primary.
Sanders made the statement Wednesday on the podcast "Pod Save America," when host Jon Favreau asked directly whether the Vermont independent would throw his support behind Hong. Sanders told Favreau flatly:
"I don't think so."
He called Hong "very, very nice" but said he was not that familiar with the Wisconsin race. His priority, he said, lies elsewhere.
"We have not gotten involved in many governors races.... My major concern right now is seeing that we have a Senate and a House that is going to stand up to [President] Trump."
"That's really where my focus is," Sanders added. "So as of now, we have really not been involved in that race."
The brush-off lands less than a week before Wisconsin Democrats pick their nominee to replace term-limited Gov. Tony Evers. Polling shows Hong leading the Democratic field, but she enters the final stretch carrying baggage that her own party's outgoing governor has warned could cost them the seat in November.
Hong, a state lawmaker and former professional chef, has spent recent weeks trying to manage fallout from a since-deleted 2020 social media post in which she wrote: "Cancel Thanksgiving. Should have done this in 1621."
Her explanations have shifted by the day. On Monday she told CNN the holiday is "incredibly painful for many people." By Wednesday she told Politico that Thanksgiving is actually her "favorite" holiday. Rep. Tom Tiffany, the likely Republican nominee, has highlighted Hong's prior criticism of holidays including Thanksgiving and Valentine's Day.
The holiday controversy sits on top of an older liability. Hong previously argued for defunding and abolishing the police. At a debate last month she tried to walk that position back, saying she needs to be "sensible and practical on what we can achieve."
That kind of rhetorical whiplash, radical stance, quiet retreat, new talking point, has become a familiar pattern among progressive candidates. Moderate Democrats have poured millions into efforts to stop democratic socialists from winning primaries, precisely because positions like "abolish the police" play well in activist circles and collapse in general elections.
Sanders is not the only prominent Democrat keeping his distance. Gov. Evers endorsed Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley in July after Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez dropped out of the race and Crowley reentered the field. Evers went further this week, telling the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that Hong would likely lose to Tiffany in November.
That is a striking admission from a sitting Democratic governor about his own party's front-runner. Evers is not speculating about ideology or messaging. He is making a blunt electability argument, and doing it publicly, days before the primary.
Sanders's refusal to endorse Hong is notable for a different reason. Earlier this year he backed Troy Jackson in Maine's gubernatorial primary, and Jackson went on to become the Democratic nominee for Senate in that state. Sanders has shown he is willing to weigh in on races outside Washington when the candidate and the moment suit him. Wisconsin's democratic socialist apparently does not meet that bar.
Sanders has been scaling back his political ambitions more broadly, and the Hong decision fits that pattern. But the distinction matters: he chose to involve himself in Maine and chose not to involve himself in Wisconsin. The stated reason, that he is focused on Congress, does not explain why one governor's race earned his attention and the other did not.
The Vermont senator's decision to sit out the Wisconsin race comes at a moment when his endorsement record has drawn bipartisan criticism. A candidate who built his brand on championing the progressive grassroots is now picking his spots with visible caution, and the grassroots candidate in Wisconsin is the one getting left behind.
Hong's predicament illustrates a broader problem for the Democratic left. Progressive insurgents have won primaries across the country by energizing activist bases, but their general-election records remain uneven. Michigan's recent gubernatorial fight showed how expensive and unpredictable those intra-party battles can become.
In Wisconsin, the dynamic is playing out in reverse. The establishment is not spending tens of millions to block Hong, it is simply declining to help her. Evers endorsed someone else. Sanders offered a polite "no." And the candidate herself is left explaining away old social media posts and abandoned policy positions while trying to hold a primary lead.
Sanders has also been openly clashing with fellow Democrats on other fronts, which may further limit his appetite for wading into contested primaries where a loss, or an embarrassing general-election collapse, would reflect on his judgment.
Wisconsin Democrats vote Tuesday. Hong enters the primary as the polling leader but without the endorsement of the outgoing governor, without the backing of the progressive movement's most recognizable senator, and with a trail of statements that her Republican opponent has already begun weaponizing for the fall.
Crowley, backed by Evers, offers the party an alternative that the establishment clearly considers safer. Whether Democratic primary voters agree is another question. But the silence from Sanders, a man who has never been shy about telling voters which side to pick, speaks louder than any endorsement he could have given.
When even Bernie Sanders looks at a democratic socialist and decides to keep walking, the candidate's problems run deeper than one deleted tweet.
