WI SENATE: Mandela Barnes (D)
Born in one of Milwaukee’s most impoverished ZIP codes, Mandela Barnes is the product of a proud union family. During his childhood, his father worked 3rd shift at the city’s General Motors factory and his mother was a Milwaukee school teacher.
It was by their example, Barnes has said, that his parents taught him the values of hard work, perseverance and the importance of a good education. Their union jobs were his family’s ticket into the middle class.
Barnes credits hearing then-Illinois State Sen. Barack Obama speak at the 2004 Democratic convention with inspiring him to answer the call to public service.
After college, Barnes became a community organizer in his hometown where he fought to bring good jobs to the community.
Frustrated by a lack of action from the lawmakers on the issues affecting working people and the middle class, he then decided to run for office. He became a Wisconsin State Representative at age 27, and fought then-Gov. Scott Walker’s anti-union agenda.
In 2018, Barnes helped Democrat Tony Evers end Walker’s bid for re-election, and in the process became Wisconsin’s first Black Lt. Governor — and only the second Black elected official statewide.
As Lt. Governor, Barnes has worked closely with Gov. Evers to help Wisconsin recover from the pandemic. Barnes has also been central to the campaign to encourage communities across the state to get vaccinated, traveling to urban and rural areas to energize Wisconsin’s recovery.
Gov. Evers recognized Barnes’s expertise and years of work on environmental issues by appointing him as chair of the Governor’s Task Force on Climate Change. The task force brought together a diverse coalition of farmers, environmental advocates, Indigenous leaders, and business executives to produce 55 concrete strategies for how Wisconsin can begin to address the climate crisis.
Barnes says he is running for U.S. Senate to rebuild the middle class and give everyone a fair shot at the American dream.
If elected, he has vowed to put middle class families first and stand up to lobbyists and big corporations, while pursuing a parallel agency of bringing manufacturing back to Wisconsin, creating jobs by tackling climate change, and standing up for Wisconsin’s family farmers.
Prior to serving as Lt. Governor, Barnes was elected to the State Assembly, where he was soon named chair of the legislature’s Black and Latino Caucus.
Barnes also serves on the Governor’s Health Equity Council, Wisconsin Criminal Justice Coordinating Council, Wisconsin Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Task Force, the Governor’s Council on Financial Literacy and Capability, and the statewide 2020 Census Complete Count Committee.
The biographical information above was sourced from the campaign website; see links above for more information.
