(The Center Square) – Mandela Barnes during the weekend said he is looking to take on Tom Tiffany next November for governor of Wisconsin.
“We’re making sure that we have everything, every resource ready to take on Tom Tiffany because he is the likely nominee,” Barnes said.
Barnes is the former lieutenant governor from 2019-23. Tiffany is the 7th Congressional District representative to the U.S. House of Representatives and a former state senator.
Barnes became the seventh Democrat in a crowded primary field last week. He said he’s not disrespecting anyone while making clear that he is focusing on November’s general election.
“It’s not about confidence,” Barnes said. “I’m going to tell you right now, I’m going to work harder than anybody. I have a lot of respect. I take every challenger, I take it completely seriously. I have respect for, I am friends with the people who are running, but my focus is on Tom Tiffany.”
Some Democrats, however, did not want Barnes to run. An op-ed in a Milwaukee paper said Barnes blew his shot to win the U.S. Senate race in 2022.
“Some people have favorites, and that’s fine,” Barnes said. “This is a primary election. I think that people should have options. I think that is the beauty of democracy. I truly think these kind of primaries are healthy because we get to express ideas, and most importantly, express a vision.”
Barnes’ position on police and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is mixed. For example, in a 2022 advertisement of 30 seconds, he said critics’ saying he wants to “defund the police and abolish ICE” are a lie. CNN reported at the time Barnes’ 2018 social media activity indicated he was in favor of both.
“I’ve made it very clear, I don’t support defunding the police,” he said during the weekend. “I want to make sure that our communities and our law enforcement officers have the resources they need to keep our communities safe.”
Tiffany, who has been a frequent critic of Barnes, also has a primary opponent in Republican Washington County Executive Josh Schoemann.
