Payments to Penthouse Pet Shifted Wisconsin Voters After Discovery of the Hong Campaign’s Transfers Just Before Primary Day

insta_photos image via Shutterstock
insta_photos image via Shutterstock

Francesca Hong spent a year selling herself as Wisconsin's socialist choice for governor.

Wisconsin voters learned who she picked to help run that campaign from the inside.

The Badger State Democrats who just crowned their nominee might not have loved who was getting paid by her campaign as much as Hong thought.

Campaign Finance Records Show Sex Workers Union Founder Pulled a Monthly Salary From Hong's Campaign

Francesca Hong is the state representative who wanted to be Wisconsin's next governor.

That’s not happening after Hong’s Democrat Primary opponent, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, was declared the winner early Wednesday morning.

Practically speaking, there’s very little difference policy-wise between Democratic Socialist candidates and Democrat establishment candidates – they all support socialism.

So, Hong’s loss has to be chalked up mostly to her own unforced errors.

She is a self-described democratic socialist, a former Madison bartender, and – until this week – was best known for a deleted 2020 post calling to "cancel Thanksgiving."

Now she's known for something else.

Hiring a woman named Renee Faust, formerly known as Renee Olstead, a child actress turned OnlyFans model who was crowned Penthouse "Pet of the Year" in 2024.

That’s who Hong made her deputy campaign manager.

Wisconsin Family Action pulled the campaign finance filings and found a $5,743.77 payment to Faust logged on July 1 alone.

Faust also founded something called the Coalition for American Sex Workers – Local 304, and she was still allegedly active in the industry while drawing the campaign paycheck.

Wisconsin Family Action president Daniel Degner didn't soften it.

"Wisconsinites deserve to have serious people leading the state," Degner said.

"It is unbelievable to see that the likely Democratic nominee for governor has an active sex worker leading her campaign."

Degner and other Wisconsinites can breathe a partial sigh of relief that it doesn’t appear that’s going to be the case after Hong’s loss.

In another unforced error, Hong's campaign fired back just days before the election that Faust "helped build the largest grassroots campaign in Wisconsin history" and dismissed the criticism as coming from "right-wing politicians."

That wasn't a denial.

But it was an example of an undisciplined communications strategy.

Hong's campaign almost certainly did itself more harm by responding to the story.

That is to say more voters heard about Hong tapping the reported sex worker as a top campaign staffer than otherwise would have if they’d have left it at dismissing the story as coming from "right-wing politicians” or ignored it altogether.

Hong's Legislative Record Matches Her Staffing Choice

This isn't some random hire Hong can claim she didn't vet.

She personally introduced Assembly Bill 1193 to legalize prostitution in Wisconsin.

She voted against Assembly Bill 105, a bill written to protect children from pornography.

She voted against Assembly Bill 677, which would have criminalized adults grooming kids for sex inside Wisconsin schools.

And on Good Friday last year, Hong issued Faust an official legislative citation celebrating her Penthouse title and sex-work advocacy.

Every piece fits together.

The deputy manager isn't an outlier in Hong's politics – she's the logical result of them.

Democratic socialists running big-city takeovers from New York to Chicago have sold voters the same pitch Hong tried to: trust us, we're just standing up for the working class.

Voters bought that pitch from Hong too but she couldn’t get out of her own way.

Hong walked into this primary with a reported 22-point lead over Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, according to the final pre-election poll.

It seems Democrats in Wisconsin didn’t want someone with such bad sense potentially becoming their governor when they could vote for Crowley who in the end wouldn't be very different from Hong policy-wise.

Crowley will now square off in the general election with Trump-endorsed Republican Congressman Tom Tiffany who prevailed Tuesday against Andy Manske.

Sources:

  • Fox News Staff, "Democratic socialist Francesca Hong has former child star, OnlyFans model in senior campaign role: report," Fox News, August 8, 2026.
  • Jack Davis, "DSA Governor Candidate Hires OnlyFans Model as Deputy Campaign Manager," The Western Journal, August 9, 2026.
  • Daily Wire News, "Far-Left Governor Candidate Taps OnlyFans Model As Deputy Campaign Manager," The Daily Wire, August 8, 2026.
  • Wisconsin Family Action, "Hong Campaign Leadership Includes Porn Star," press release via Urban Milwaukee, August 6, 2026.
  • Heartland Post Staff, "Hong Deputy Campaign Manager is a Former Penthouse Pet of the Year, OnlyFans Model," The Heartland Post, August 8, 2026.

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