Barnes Drops Out of Race for Governor
Former lieutenant governor drops out after disappointing Marquette Poll, calls for party unity.
Mandela Barnes. (Public Domain).
Former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes ended his campaign for governor Thursday.
Barnes dropped out of the race in the wake of the latest Marquette University Law School Poll placing him well behind front-runner state Rep. Francesca Hong.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel also reported Thursday that Barnes’ decision comes amid the newspaper’s investigation of allegations that Barnes “was taking advantage of his role in the party to have sexual encounters with young adult women.”
Barnes did not mention any of this in a short video posted to social media announcing his departure from the race.
The Democrats remaining in the race for governor include Hong, state Sen. Kelda Roys, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley and Greater Milwaukee Committee President Joel Brennan. The winner of the primary will face Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, the presumptive Republican nominee, in the general election. Tiffany is endorsed by President Donald Trump.
“It’s become very clear to me who our nominee is going to be,” Barnes said. “We have to do everything to beat Tom Tiffany; this is life or death. We’re losing their health care under the Trump administration. People who can’t afford child care, the folks who are being squeezed by bills, while the rich continue to get richer.”
Barnes entered the race with by far the most statewide recognition of all the Democratic candidates, with a name ID among 61% of respondents, compared to 29% for Hong. But since then Hong has steadily risen in the Marquette polls, which most recently showed her with 38% of the vote, compared to 16% for Barnes.
Barnes, 39, served as a state Assembly representative for one term (2013-17), unsuccessfully sought a state Senate seat and then ran for and won the position of lieutenant governor in 2019, at age 31, becoming the first Black person to hold the position in Wisconsin history. He served under Gov. Tony Evers for one term, 2019-23. He ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate against Republican Ron Johnson in 2022, losing by just 1% of the vote.
Barnes’ departure marks the third time a Democrat has exited the race before the primary election. Former WEDC Secretary Missy Hughes suspended her campaign in June and endorsed Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez. Crowley did the same in July. But when a campaign finance scandal sank the Rodriguez campaign, Crowley relaunched his own with an endorsement from Gov. Tony Evers.
Crowley was the first Democrat to release a statement after Barnes’ departure. “To everyone who backed Mandela: there’s a place for you in what we’re building,” he said in a statement on social media. Hong quickly followed suit, announcing, “The Barnes campaign helped grow the progressive movement,” and also welcoming his supporters to back her campaign. Brennan released a statement doing the same, and saying, “It’s unfortunate for voters that this primary has gotten more attention for chaos than the stakes of this election.” A spokesperson for Roys declined to comment on Barnes leaving the race, but said Roys is best placed to beat Tiffany and has “no drama, no baggage.”
Barnes exits the race with more than $204,207 remaining in his campaign account, having raised more than $841,000 since the start of the year. Just days before exiting the race, an attorney supporting Crowley filed a complaint with the Wisconsin Ethics Commission alleging the Barnes campaign violated state election law.
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The journal sentinel has been running quite an abundance of hit pieces on democratic candidates – Is there going to be a tiffany endorsement in the future? They have certainly raised a lot of valid concerns, but at what end?
Ah What I had heard is now public. Barnes surely knew about the claims and he did not respond, which was most unfortunate, if it is lie or half truth and then why did he run if it is true????? If I knew about Barnes potential baggage, then surely all reading this would know about it. What is the matter with all of these folks If it is Hong we will hear that she has no degree and that she could not figure out how to deal with a $30,000 credit card balance and who knows what else. With Crowley we will see over and over and over his foolish comments which I have not read yet but will hear then 5 times a day and what of the Insurance fiasco???
AND no one is dealing with the Choice and Charter folks who will not vote or will vote for Tiffany and screw ………. Remember that is how Barnes lost …….. Only 11,000 votes
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh There still is time to sort it out and to get agreement on a platform that all will agree with and then everyone but one will drop out.
This is not an election it is a crap shoot and that is not the way to win. If this was the days of Tommy Thompson etc no big deal IT IS NOT and we MUST WIN
@toyotathon I’d rather get all the vetting out of the way before the primary. Imagine being in the place of Maine Dems trying to replace Platner after the primary.
A baked potato could beat Tom Tiffany. The guy makes Tony Evers look like a wildly interesting rock star.