Francesca Hong, a candidate for Wisconsin governor, is part of a wave of democratic socialists finding traction with an old idea

In a matter of weeks, Francesca Hong, an unlikely candidate for governor in one of the country’s most heated battleground states, will test a message that is at once radical and, to many, incredibly practical: the government should help pay for childcare.

“When we talk about free childcare, you can connect to folks whether it’s on an economic argument or just purely that it’s the right thing to do for our kids,” said Hong, a democratic socialist running in Wisconsin’s Democratic primary on 11 August. “I always like to remind folks: if we don’t take care of our kids, who’s going to take care of us?”