Wisconsin Democratic socialist gubernatorial primary candidate Francesca Hong fielded questions on Monday pertaining to progressive U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., who did not endorse Hong in Tuesday's primary contest.
Asked why she thinks the congresswoman — who is often referred to simply by her initials AOC — and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., did not back her, Hong said, "I have so much respect for the senator and the congresswoman, and they are working tirelessly to make sure that we can flip Congress and the Senate and get Democrats wins in the midterms. I look forward to conversations with them about that too."
Pressed on whether she believes the two lawmakers not endorsing her signals they don't believe she can win the state, Hong said that a gubernatorial contest "is different from federal elections."
During a Sunday interview on ABC's "This Week," Jonathan Karl asked Ocasio-Cortez whether she would endorse Hong.
"No, I haven't endorsed in that race. My focus has been in winning back the Congress, winning back the House and positioning ourselves to have the best, ah, chance possible to, to win the Senate," she said.
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Karl asked the congresswoman about controversial comments Hong has made in the past.
Ocasio-Cortez indicated that her "understanding is that... Francesca Hong has made clear her present stances to her electorate" and "moved away from" prior comments.
"And I have a local city councilman that has this... saying, 'Woke 1 was crazy,'" she said, laughing. "And I think that what's important is that we have to assess what a candidate is saying now."
When asked on Monday about Ocasio-Cortez's wokeness-related comment, Hong, a Democratic Socialists of America member, suggested that individuals "are opening their eyes to an economy that is deeply rigged against working class people" and that she will speak about how to "deliver for working class people by taxing the ultra rich, ensure that we have a moratorium on data centers, that we're raising wages, fighting for universal childcare and that we fully fund our public schools."
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Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, state Sen. Kelda Roys and former secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Administration Joel Brennan are also running in Tuesday's Wisconsin Democratic gubernatorial primary contest.
