Mandela Barnes jumps into Wisconsin governor race — but baggage from his 2022 Senate bid follows
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...
By Fox News · Fox News
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. Republican Rep. Tom Tiffany, R-Wisc., the most high-profile Republican in Wisconsin's upcoming gubernatorial contest, on Tuesday took a "trip down memory lane on why far-left extremist Mandela Barnes would be WRONG for Wisconsin." "Mandela Barnes is a far-left extremist. The fact that he is the Democrat frontrunner shows just how radical and out of touch the party has become. Wisconsinites rejected him in 2022, and they will do it again in 2026," Tiffany said in a statement. MANDELA BARNES ANNOUNCES BID FOR WISCONSIN GOVERNOR AFTER NARROW 2022 SENATE LOSS Fox News Digital reported extensively on Barnes during the 2022 midterm elections before he lost by 1 percentage point to Johnson in a race that exposed vulnerabilities likely to plague his upcoming gubernatorial run. MANDELA BARNES HAS LONG HISTORY WITH GROUP THAT SEEKS TO BAN GANG DATABASES, MAKE WISCONSIN A SANCTUARY STATE From ties to groups who called for defunding the police and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to drafting legislation to ban hollow-point bullets and assault rifles, here's a look back at the storylines that dominated Barnes' Senate campaign. Fox News Digital reported in Oct. 2022 that Barnes has a long history with a liberal nonprofit group that aims to defund the police, get rid of law enforcement gang databases, treat 24-year-old criminals as juveniles and make Wisconsin a sanctuary state. Barnes served on the board of directors for Citizen Action of Wisconsin (CAW) f…