Mandela Barnes jumps into Wisconsin governor race — but baggage from his 2022 Senate bid follows
Former lieutenant governor enters gubernatorial race as likely Democratic frontrunner after losing to Sen Ron Johnson by 1 point in 2022
Former Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, a far-left Democrat who nearly unseated Republican Sen. Ron Johnson in 2022, launched a campaign for governor on Tuesday.
Barnes enters the race to replace retiring Gov. Tony Evers, D-Wis., as the likely frontrunner in a crowded Democratic primary field. But unlike his lesser-known rivals, Barnes brings the baggage of a nationalized, multimillion-dollar Senate race that exposed years of radical positions and a record Republicans have already used to define him statewide.
Fox News Digital reported extensively on Barnes during the 2022 midterm elections before he lost by one percentage point to Johnson, exposing ties to groups who called for defunding the police and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). But Barnes is now putting distance between himself and those groups.