A former child actress turned OnlyFans model is reportedly serving as deputy campaign manager for Wisconsin state Rep. Francesca Hong's gubernatorial bid, and Hong's campaign dodged direct questions about the hire.
Renee Olstead, who also goes by Renee Faust, has been working as a paid campaign operative for Hong's Democratic primary run, Fox News Digital reported, citing reporting from The Heartland Post. 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. The Heartland Post reported she has coordinated logistics for high-profile surrogates, including streamer and political commentator Hasan Piker.
Hong, a self-described democratic socialist, faces three opponents in the Wisconsin Democratic gubernatorial primary: Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, former state Department of Administration Secretary Joel Brennan, and Democratic state Sen. Kelda Roys. The primary is days away. And the revelation that an active adult-content creator holds a senior operational role in her campaign raises pointed questions about judgment, questions Hong's team has so far declined to answer directly.
Fox News Digital asked the campaign to confirm Olstead's title, responsibilities, start date, paid status, and qualifications. The campaign's response did not address each question. Instead, it offered a statement framing Olstead as a mental health professional:
"Renee Faust is a licensed mental health clinician who has spent her career providing care to trafficking survivors. Since joining the campaign in December, she has helped build the largest grassroots campaign in Wisconsin history. The right-wing politicians attacking her are the same ones who want government dictating women's health care decisions."
That statement claims Olstead joined the campaign in December. But The Heartland Post reported she worked as a paid campaign operative since at least January, a discrepancy neither side has explained. Whether the two accounts refer to different roles or different time periods remains unclear.
Fox News Digital also asked Hong to explain her decision to participate in presenting Olstead with an official Wisconsin State Assembly citation. The campaign did not directly respond to that question either.
The citation itself adds another layer. Last year, Hong and three other state representatives presented Olstead with an official Wisconsin State Assembly citation. The document recognized her advocacy for sex workers' rights, and her selection as Penthouse Pet of the Year in 2024. 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 has pursued legislation that would decriminalize prostitution involving adults and establish a sex workers' bill of rights. The assembly citation, the legislative agenda, and the campaign hire all point in the same direction: Hong has built a political relationship with Olstead that extends well beyond a standard staffing decision.
Daniel Degner, president of Wisconsin Family Action, a conservative advocacy organization based in Madison, did not mince words in response. He told Fox News Digital:
"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. Voters deserve to know whether if Hong is elected, she will elevate a porn star to leadership in her administration."
It is a fair question. Deputy campaign managers routinely transition into senior government roles when their candidate wins. Voters heading to the polls deserve to know who is running the operation, and what that says about the candidate's priorities.
The Olstead hire fits a broader pattern with Hong: progressive convictions followed by convenient retreats when a wider electorate is watching. In 2020, Hong 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." She has since deleted the post.
More recently, Hong told Politico Playbook a very different story:
"My favorite holiday is Thanksgiving. Yep, I don't want to cancel it. I actually love it."
From "cancel Thanksgiving" to "I actually love it", in the space of a few years. Hong has also distanced herself from other progressive positions, including calls to abolish the police, in interviews ahead of the primary. The pivot is transparent: say one thing to the activist base, say something else when the whole state is listening.
The campaign's handling of the Olstead story follows the same playbook. Rather than answer straightforward factual questions, Is she paid? What is her title? When did she start?, the campaign deflected into a talking point about "right-wing politicians" and women's health care. That is not transparency. It is evasion dressed up as a counterattack.
None of this is about Olstead's personal choices. Adults are free to make a living as they see fit. But a gubernatorial campaign is a public trust in miniature. The people a candidate surrounds herself with, and the way she responds when those choices draw scrutiny, tell voters something real about how she would govern.
Hong chose to hire an active adult-content creator as her deputy campaign manager. She chose to present that same person with an official state legislative citation celebrating her Penthouse title. She chose to pursue legislation decriminalizing prostitution. And when reporters asked basic questions about the arrangement, her campaign chose to dodge.
Wisconsin primary voters can decide for themselves whether that combination reflects the seriousness a governor's office demands. But they should at least know what they are voting for, even if Hong's campaign would rather they didn't.
