Francesca Hong is the For-The-People Candidate Wisconsin Desperately Needs!

Your support makes this newsletter happen! If even these discounts are too expensive, but you want to be a sponsor, please reach out to me directly and I’ll send you a coupon!Thanks for your support: 30% off 💙 40% off 💙 50% off 💙 60% offHello Everyone!This interview is from January 28th, 2026. It feels almost like a lifetime ago! I’d come across an advertisement for Francesca Hong on social media and I sent out an email inviting her to come on for a chat. At the time, she was the outspoken candidate in a crowded field that the establishment said “didn’t have a chance.”As of right now, she’s the frontrunner!I remember this interview with such fondness. After it was over, I sat for a moment and thought, “I just interviewed the next Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez!” I was just delighted with the possibility that somebody like Fran could be our next governor. I even set up another interview along with Melissa Corrigan, she/her in an attempt to get some of the bigger platforms on Substack to pay attention.The bigger platforms didn’t really help, but that didn’t stop Fran. She’s been working tirelessly. She’s out knocking on doors and discussing the issues all the people know are the actual problems.Today, I woke up to the news that Abdul El-Sayed won the Senate primary in Michigan against an AIPAC funded candidate. Once again we see that big money is not enough to beat big integrity. The people are fed up with establishment lies. They want something different!It has been a joy to me to see Francesca Hong take off. The first thing I remember was the endorsement from Ro Khanna. Then came the appearance on Hassan Piker. From there, it’s just continued to build and build and build.Meanwhile, the DNC is out there trying to pull its typical b******t. We’ve seen candidates drop out of the race in an attempt to “consolidate” around some milquetoast moderate that refuses to stand for anything.All across our media and political spectrum we’ve seen Democrats who couldn’t be bothered to denounce the criminality of Republicans. Yet these corporate candidates always find their voice to attack common sense ideas like defunding genocide so we can help our communities and kids.The people have had enough.Over the last few weeks, I’ve sensed a major shift. The establishment is growing desperate. They thought they could sit back and allow this criminal regime to run roughshod over all of us, and that we’d have no choice but to turn to them in the midterms.But they forgot about the primaries!I’ve been working on this really hard for the last two years. There have been so many great candidates who have come forward to say, “Enough is enough!” There have been so many members of independent media that have done everything we can to platform these candidates. Remember, the corporate entities are not helping. Both in politics and in media, the people doing the real work are the ones working on a shoestring, grassroots budget.That’s Francesca Hong! She’s not taking big money. That means she has to work a hundred times as hard and she’s happy to do it because that’s how much integrity is WORTH to some people.It’s worth that much to me too!It’s hard to believe that the primary season is almost over. For two years, I’ve been saying that we can’t wait for the midterms. The fight is NOW! It does us no good to elevate the same representatives who failed to support us the last time we gave them power.Fortunately, the whole country is waking up to this. We’re seeing a wave of for-the-people candidates win big. Fran’s up next in the state of Wisconsin. You can check her web page out here:FrancescaHong.comAs always, I want to thank all of you for accompanying me on this journey. It’s often been terrifying. We’ve witnessed horrific abuses and corruption from our government since 2024. But the momentum is on our side. We’re getting wins. We have to celebrate those wins.It’s because of all of you. My publication isn’t the biggest publication in the world, but it doesn’t have to be. All of you gave a little bit of a boost to Francesca Hong and Melat Kiros and so many others. When Fran wins, perhaps we’ll see clips from this interview on Fox news again (I hope they pay me this time). We’ve done pretty damn good for a platform that’s entirely funded by THE PEOPLE, especially during an era of Republican economic terrorism. I deeply appreciate that even when faced with the terrible cruelty of this regime, you’ve managed to find a way to support me. I could not have done this without you, and look at what we achieved!I’m so proud of all of you. I’m proud of all the candidates we helped to elevate. As I look around and see more and more people of integrity win their primaries, I can’t help but feel that change is inevitable.But this is only the beginning. We’ve still got a lot of work to do. Still, I’m making the transition from desperation to hope, and it feels so good! Remember that the candidates we elevate are not going to succeed unless we have a progressive media to defend them. The bigger I get, the more I can do to ensure these candidates are able to implement their policies for the benefit of all.Thank you so much for your support! Keep encouraging your friends and neighbors to turn away from the lies of centrist and right-wing news. Bring them over here! It’s more fun!Be sure to share this post, and if you’re in the state of Wisconsin, make a plan to VOTE! Thank you all again so much just for being here and for helping to make this change happen! Celebrate! You made this happen! It was YOU!Thanks for your support: 30% off 💙 40% off 💙 50% off 💙 60% offIf you want to support me, but these discounts are still outside your budget, just send me a direct message with a request and I’ll make you a personal coupon. Those coupons renew at that rate, so it’s good forever. I’d love to have you on as a sponsor because that gives me even greater visibility.I'd Rather Be Writing is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to I'd Rather Be Writing at walterrhein.substack.com/subscribe