Francesca Hong during an interview in New York on May 9, 2026. (Yonhap)
By Kim Won-chul, Washington correspondent“This is the moment for our movement.”Francesca Hong’s voice was measured when we spoke over the phone last September.“This is the moment when the working class needs to take action. We’re done with letting politicians fight on our behalf,” Hong said.Her words had the ring of an unlikely contender, but carried an inexplicable strength.That strength began to manifest itself about a month after our interview. In November, Zohran Mamdani, running as a democratic socialist (just like Hong), was elected mayor of New York, the capital of the capitalist world.Hong’s movement has now spread to major cities across the US, including Seattle, where Katie Wilson was elected mayor; Washington, where Janeese Lewis George is certain to be the next mayor; and Los Angeles, where Nithya Raman has advanced to the general election.The Democratic Party’s congressional primaries in New York City on Tuesday helped underline the movement’s momentum.Mamdani’s picks — Brad Lander, Claire Valdez and Darializa Avila Chevalier — swept aside two sitting Democratic congressmen and a candidate with the backing of a retiring congresswoman.“A year ago, it was not the end of a political movement. It was the beginning,” Mamdani said, and he wasn’t just being rhetorical.Hong’s gubernatorial run in Wisconsin has long been more than a plucky venture.Leading up to the Democratic primaries on Aug. 11, Hong is running neck-and-neck with establishment candidates. In a poll last month, Hong placed 22%, just behind former Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes (26%) and ahead of incumbent Lieutenant Governor Sara Rodiguez (15%). Her support was up eight points in just two months.In American politics, it’s tough to even throw your hat in the ring without deep pockets and organizational support. And yet this state representative, a single mom with stints as a chef and bartender on her résumé, is increasingly likely to become the first Korean American to become a state governor.These developments clearly show where energy is flowing inside the Democratic Party today. This political movement seeks to change lives through completely new methods, rather than conventional political approaches. The idea is to reboot the system.There are echoes here of the right-wing energy that coalesced around Donald Trump, with earth-shaking consequences.If this movement proves its mettle in this year’s midterm elections, the next battlefield will be the 2028 presidential election.Instead of establishment favorites like California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and former Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party could be represented by US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, US Rep. Ro Khanna or even a no-name waiting in the wings.The insurgent democratic socialists in the Democratic Party are linked with the traditions of a movement born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in the early 20th century.Democratic socialists in Milwaukee were dubbed “sewer socialists” for shifting the focus from grand ideologies to fixing public services such as sewers, parks and schools. And just like the sewer socialists of old, the latest crop of democratic socialists is intent on tackling everyday issues such as housing costs, childcare, healthcare and public transportation.That’s why these candidates have fired up young people and blue-collar workers who are apt to be cynical about politics.“The incrementalist approach is irresponsible,” Hong stressed at the end of our interview last year. Her argument is that we’re living through an emergency when children are going hungry, workers are losing access to medical care and the nation is being robbed of public education.Desperate times demand urgent and fundamental action from American politicians.Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]
