Lt. Governor Mandela Barnes has been the front-runner for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate ever since he entered the race.
The strain created a fantastic opportunity.
Barnes reportedly said as he worked to forge a broad Democratic coalition, “I never expected to be out in front and never expected to have just anything handed to me.”
Barnes formally clinched the nomination in the Tuesday primary after establishing a significant lead in the polls that compelled his main competitors to drop out weeks before the first votes were even tallied.
Barnes will compete against U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, a Republican running for a third term, in the general election on November 8.
Barnes is the first African-American lieutenant governor of Wisconsin.
He would be the first Black person in the history of the state to be elected to the U.S. Senate if he prevails in November.
In his words, “People aren’t voting in terms of historical context; they’re voting in terms of who is going to do the job to improve their lives.
So, my focus is on the work that needs to be done.”
Barnes, 35, who is incredibly well-liked among Democratic grassroots supporters, focused on his life story during the primaries.
His father, Jesse, was an autoworker, and his mother, LaJuan, was a teacher in the public school system.
He was born and raised in Milwaukee.
He declared, “My story is a Wisconsin narrative. There aren’t enough senators in the US who genuinely understand our situation.
There aren’t enough members of the U.S. Senate with actual working-class experience.
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At his victory celebration at The Cooperage in Milwaukee, Barnes discussed the recurring themes of his campaign, his roots in the Milwaukee middle class, and his ambition to revive the state’s iconic family farming and manufacturing sectors.
Growing up, I didn’t see many politicians who resembled me or had a similar background.
I’m not what you would expect a typical politician to look like, Barnes added.
Barnes continued, “We need more real individuals in the Senate,” before denouncing Johnson as someone “who wants to send us backward.”
The “self-serving, out-of-touch politician” Johnson, according to Barnes, “continues to stack the deck against us.”
‘We’re going to appear everywhere,’ We’re going to fight tooth and nail. And we’re going to triumph, said Barnes.
In 2012, Barnes entered political politics and was elected to the Wisconsin Assembly.
He was elected to two terms, which he described as “a learning experience” as he studied the government’s operations.
He said, “I just got to investigate.
In 2016, he launched a primary challenge against Lena Taylor, a significant Milwaukee state senator.
Barnes was easily defeated, thus it was too much, too fast.
He admitted, “Looking back, I probably needed it.” “It was essential to my path.
If I hadn’t fallen to Lena, I wouldn’t be lieutenant governor today.
Two years later, he bounced back to secure his party’s nomination for lieutenant governor, where he worked with governor Tony Evers to defeat Republicans Scott Walker and Rebecca Kleefisch.
The position of lieutenant governor would serve as a launchpad.
Barnes was the final significant candidate to enter the Democratic primary field that had gathered to challenge Johnson.
Barnes made a commitment to “offer opportunities to fight for hard-working people” throughout the state and the nation in July 2021 during a rally at Sherman Phoenix in Milwaukee.
Along the way, he received significant support from progressives and traditional moderate Democrats like U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Bernie Sanders of Vermont, as well as late support from U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York.
Additionally, he obtained a number of important labour endorsements.
Barnes never trailed in the polls despite being outspent by opponents Milwaukee Bucks executive Alex Lasry and state treasurer Sarah Godlewski, who invested $20 million in their respective campaigns.
He cemented his position once he pooled his resources for a broadcast blitz that capitalised on his cheery demeanour and his middle-class Wisconsin values.
His main competitors withdrew in the final week of July, starting with Outagamie County Executive Tom Nelson and continuing with Lasry and Godlewski.
It “made sense to consolidate the progressive vote, which we achieved,” according to Nelson.
“Mandela won this race,” said Lasry.
Godlewski stated, “I know we’re better when we all get together.
Lasry continued on to the Barnes victory celebration on Tuesday.
Barnes claimed he gained a lot of patience through the grind of the campaign.
There is always more to do, he declared.
Barnes, a proponent of Medicare-for-all and a Green New Deal that “works for Wisconsin,” has attempted to highlight everyday concerns like reviving the middle class, bringing back manufacturing, and fostering family farms.
Johnson didn’t waste any time in portraying Barnes as being out of the mainstream when it came to economic and security issues.
He criticised Barnes, the media, and Democratic elites “who want to ‘fundamentally transform’ America” in a statement he released.
“Unfortunately, we all know what it means now: Open borders, forty-year-high inflation, record gas costs, increased crime, the brainwashing of our kids, and a lack of infant formula,” Johnson said.
Wisconsinites should not accept a word Mandela Barnes and his allies in the mainstream media say, regardless of how they try to portray his ideas.
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“The Lieutenant Governor will back all of President Biden’s harmful policies and those of his congressional supporters.
The radical left’s socialism is up against freedom and prosperity in this debate.
Additionally, it will put the truth up against the lies and misrepresentations of Democrats and the media.
