A Wisconsin Democratic gubernatorial candidate tapped a former child actress turned OnlyFans model and sex-worker advocate as her deputy campaign manager, and her campaign refuses to answer basic questions about the hire.
State Rep. Francesca Hong, a self-described democratic socialist running in Wisconsin's Democratic gubernatorial primary, brought on Renee Olstead, also known as Renee Faust, to serve as deputy campaign manager. Olstead, a former child actress who went on to build an adult-content career and was named Penthouse Pet of the Year in 2024, has been working as a paid operative on the campaign since at least January, the New York Post reported, citing original reporting from The Heartland Post.
Hong's campaign did not directly answer when Fox News Digital asked to confirm Olstead's exact title, her pay status, her qualifications for the job, or why Hong helped present Olstead with an official Wisconsin State Assembly citation. Instead, the campaign offered a statement calling Olstead "a licensed mental health clinician who has spent her career providing care to trafficking survivors" and pivoted to attacking critics.
The campaign's full response sidestepped every direct question and leaned on a familiar playbook. A spokesperson said Olstead had joined the campaign in December and "helped build the largest grassroots campaign in Wisconsin history." The statement then added:
"The right-wing politicians attacking her are the same ones who want government dictating women's health care decisions."
That framing treats a straightforward vetting question, who is running a major gubernatorial campaign and what qualifies them, as a partisan attack. Voters deciding who should lead Wisconsin have a reasonable interest in the senior staff a candidate surrounds herself with. The campaign's refusal to provide even basic details about Olstead's role raises its own questions about transparency.
Daniel Degner, president of the Madison-based conservative advocacy group Wisconsin Family Action, was less diplomatic. Fox News reported his statement criticizing the hire directly:
"Wisconsinites deserve to have serious people leading the state. It is unbelievable to see that the likely Democratic nominee for governor has an active sex worker leading her campaign."
Degner also pressed a question the campaign has so far declined to address: "Voters deserve to know whether if Hong is elected, she will elevate a porn star to leadership in her administration."
The hire did not come out of nowhere. Hong and three other state representatives presented Olstead with an official Wisconsin State Assembly citation last year. The citation recognized Olstead's advocacy for sex workers' rights, and her selection as Penthouse Pet of the Year in 2024. That means members of the state legislature used an official instrument of government to honor an adult entertainer partly for an adult-entertainment award.
Olstead also founded the Coalition for American Sex Workers, known as CASW, LOCAL 304, which advocates for decriminalization and policy changes affecting sex workers. Hong herself has pursued legislation to decriminalize prostitution involving adults and to establish a sex workers' bill of rights, a legislative agenda that aligns neatly with Olstead's advocacy.
None of that is hidden. It is the policy record Hong is running on. But voters are entitled to weigh whether a candidate who hires her policy ally from the sex-work advocacy world as a senior campaign operative is exercising the kind of judgment they want in a governor's office. Wisconsin Democrats have faced similar scrutiny before, and how candidates handle it often matters as much as the underlying facts.
Olstead's X bio reads "HONG 4 GOV" and links directly to Hong's get-out-the-vote page. Her social media features photos from campaign events, and she has coordinated logistics for high-profile surrogates, including streamer and political commentator Hasan Piker.
The Olstead hire fits a broader pattern. Hong has previously expressed support on social media for abolishing the U.S. Senate and defunding the police. In 2020, she posted on X calling to "cancel Thanksgiving" in order to "stop celebrating colonialism and the original superspreader event that killed Indegenous [sic] folx and women." That post has since been deleted.
Ahead of Tuesday's primary, Hong has tried to put distance between herself and some of those positions. She told Politico Playbook that Thanksgiving is her "favorite holiday" and said she does not want to cancel it. The reversal is notable: a candidate who once called Thanksgiving a celebration of colonialism now claims it as her favorite day of the year.
That kind of repositioning is common enough in primary politics. But the gap between Hong's 2020 rhetoric and her 2026 messaging raises a fair question about which version of the candidate voters would actually get. Democrats nationally have struggled with candidates whose personal baggage becomes a liability, and Hong's primary opponents may see an opening.
Hong faces three other Democrats in the primary: Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, former Wisconsin Department of Administration Secretary Joel Brennan, and state Sen. Kelda Roys. Whether any of them presses the Olstead issue before Tuesday remains to be seen.
Fox News Digital put several specific questions to the Hong campaign: confirm Olstead's title, confirm whether she is paid, explain her qualifications, state her start date, and explain Hong's participation in the Assembly citation. The campaign responded with a general statement and did not directly address any of those points.
That silence is itself a choice. Campaigns that believe their staffing decisions will hold up to scrutiny typically say so. Campaigns that duck straightforward questions about a senior hire usually have a reason. The pattern is familiar to anyone who has watched Democrats navigate embarrassing personnel revelations, deflect, reframe, and hope the news cycle moves on.
Wisconsin voters heading to the polls Tuesday will decide whether Hong's judgment, on policy, on personnel, and on honesty about her own record, meets the standard they expect from a governor. The campaign's refusal to answer basic questions about its own deputy campaign manager is not encouraging.
And the broader Democratic establishment might consider whether replacing problem candidates before the general election is easier than defending them after. Hong still has a primary to win. Whether she can win a general election with this record and this team around her is a different question entirely.
Voters don't ask much: tell us who you are, tell us who works for you, and answer the question when it's asked. Hong's campaign failed all three.
