WASHINGTON — Wisconsin socialist darling Francesca Hong was one of just six lawmakers in the Badger State’s legislature to vote against an anti-child grooming law enacted earlier this year by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, records show.
The law — which bars adults from “engaging in a course of conduct, pattern of behavior, or series of acts with the intention to condition, seduce, solicit, lure, or entice a child” into sexual activity or pornography — was in response to the case of former Kenosha school teacher Christian Enwright, who was found guilty of a slew of misdemeanor counts for pursuing a relationship with a 14-year-old student.
“[Enwright] engaged in classic grooming behavior, preying on the vulnerability of at least one female student, under the guise of being a mentor, to foster and further a predatory relationship with her,” a school district investigator wrote in a report quoted by the Cap Times in December 2025.
Enwright began reaching out to the minor on Snapchat in June 2023 and exchanged more than 600 messages with her, including sexualized comments about her appearance and images of himself in bed without a shirt.
At least two staffers had privately expressed concerns about Enwright’s behavior toward female students and he had a reputation for giving “long hugs,” according to the Cap Times.
Eventually, the school district’s human resources team received an anonymous tip about his behavior toward the teen in February 2024 and he was arrested, charged, and fired three months later.
However, prosecutors had difficulty bringing a case against Enwright because he never had sexual contact with the girl and none of the photos he sent or asked the teen for were explicit enough to charge him with a felony under state law.
Ultimately, Enwight pleaded guilty in April 2025 to 15 misdemeanor counts of disorderly conduct and was sentenced that July to 15 months in jail and three years of probation.
The subsequent outcry lead to the Wisconsin legislature passing the anti-grooming law, with the Assembly approving it 93-6 and the state Senate passing it by voice vote.
It is unclear why Hong, the leading Democratic gubernatorial candidate ahead of Tuesday’s primary, opposed the bill — though her colleagues who voted against it suggested the measure was redundant in state law.
Hong’s campaign did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The 37-year-old previously expressed support for both defunding and abolishing the police.
“Police exist to uphold white supremacy. Defund then abolish. Reform can’t be an option,” Hong posted on social media in October 2021, though she has since retreated from that position.
“I was actually trying to become a sports journalist when I first went to college, so I learned you sometimes have bad takes on Twitter,” she recently told reporters in a bid to explain her radicalism.
After Evers signed the anti-grooming bill in March, it was used against 36-year-old Joseph W. Cook of Janesville, who was charged with preying on a cognitively impaired girl.
Prosecutors say the two used the encrypted messaging service Signal to communicate for nearly three years, and the girl alleged to authorities that Cook planned to have her move in with him when she turned 18.
According to the girl, Cook used a Signal setting that would make messages and images vanish after about 30 seconds and would “get mad” when she attempted to change that option.
After police arrested Cook, a search of his home turned up multiple knives and machetes, boxes of ammunition and a Glock handgun with a laser attachment.
Should Hong win the Democratic primary, she will likely face Rep. Tom Tiffany (R-Wis.) in the general election.
