Wisconsin lieutenant governor hopes to unseat senator
Black leader Mandela Barnes joins crowded race to challenge the GOP’s Ron Johnson.
MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes joined the crowded Democratic field Tuesday in the race for the U.S. Senate seat held by Republican Ron Johnson, vying to become the first Black person to serve the state in the Senate.
Barnes, 34, is the first Black lieutenant governor in Wisconsin history. He is giving up a chance to run for a second term in 2022 as Gov. Tony Evers’ running mate. Instead, Barnes becomes the eighth Democrat in the race, with at least one more expected to enter it soon.
Barnes, in his announcement speech in his hometown of Milwaukee, called for “leveling the playing field” by fighting for family-supporting jobs, as well as combating gun violence, making the immigration system more fair, improving healthcare, addressing climate change and protecting democracy and the right to vote.
“We can, today, build a movement for justice,” he said to a crowd that included his former state Assembly colleagues and officials from Milwaukee and Madison, the state capital. “I’m running for the Senate to provide opportunity — to fight for hardworking people.”
Barnes has for years said the Democratic Party must do a better job connecting with young people and people of color. He played up his middle-class upbringing in his announcement, noting that his father held a union job on an assembly line and his mother taught for more than 30 years in Milwaukee public schools.
Barnes also took a swipe at Johnson, saying he is part of a “broken” U.S. Senate that is dividing people, rather than delivering for them.
Johnson has not said whether he will seek a third term, but by the end of June he had raised more money than any of the Democratic candidates at that point. He declined to comment for this story.
Preya Samsundar, a Republican Party spokeswoman, called Barnes “just another empty suit” who is trying to climb the political ladder.
Barnes, first elected at age 25, served in the state Assembly from 2013 to 2017. Rather than seek a third term in 2016, he ran for the state Senate against Democratic incumbent Sen. Lena Taylor and lost in the primary.
But in 2018, Barnes won the Democratic primary for lieutenant governor in a blowout and was paired with Evers. They went on to defeat then-Gov. Scott Walker and Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch. Kleefisch is expected to run for governor against Evers next year.
Barnes’ decision to join the Senate race opens the field for lieutenant governor. Evers does not get to choose a running mate but is expected to name his preferred choice soon; the nominee will be decided in the August 2022 primary.
Evers, in a statement, praised Barnes as a “good friend” and “great partner,”
but stopped short of endorsing him. Evers said Democrats were lucky to have strong candidates to take on Johnson and “send him packing.”
Barnes was outspoken in the 2018 campaign, accusing Walker of ignoring “people who look like me” and saying then-President Trump wanted to create “a superior race.”
Barnes also spoke out after the Kenosha police shooting last summer of Jacob Blake, a Black man, and criticized Trump for visiting the city amid protests of the shooting. And he was critical of how police reacted to Kyle Rittenhouse, a white teenager who shot and killed two protesters during a violent night of demonstrations.
The job of lieutenant governor has few official duties, but Evers tapped Barnes to lead his task force on climate change, which released a report in December that included 55 policy recommendations. Barnes has also advocated for tighter gun control laws and redistricting reform, issues that Evers has championed as governor.
Barnes has drawn criticism on a few fronts. He received his college diploma from Alabama A&M University in 2020, 12 years after attending classes there and two years after saying he had a degree, though he had not yet fulfilled all of the requirements.
He has also been criticized for having unpaid parking tickets, overdue property taxes and high security costs as lieutenant governor.
Other Democrats in the Senate race are state Treasurer Sarah Godlewski; Outagamie County Executive Tom Nelson; state Sen. Chris Larson of Milwaukee; Alex Lasry, on leave as a Milwaukee Bucks executive; Dr. Gillian Battino, a Wausau radiologist; attorney and activist Peter Peckarsky; and Adam Murphy, a businessman from Franklin.
Steven Olikara, founder of the Millennial Action Project, has formed an exploratory committee and is expected to officially join the race soon.