Who is Mandela Barnes?

Mandela Barnes is the current lieutenant governor of the US state of Wisconsin and is also the Democratic Party’s nominee for the post of governor. Barnes is likely to win the Democratic primary since most candidates from his party have withdrawn their candidature and supported the 35-year-old politician. If Barnes wins, he will be contesting the general election against the incumbent governor, Ronald Johnson of the Republican Party.

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Barnes has already created political history by becoming the first-ever African-American lieutenant governor of Wisconsin, and if he wins, will also become the first-ever African-American senator from the state. On his campaign website, while talking about challenges Wisconsin is facing at the moment, Barnes said, “our democracy is on the ballot in 2022”, referring to Governor Johnson’s claims that the state legislatures should be allowed to take over the election process. In January 2022, Johnson had said, “It says state legislatures, and so if I were running the joint —and I’m not — I would come out and I would just say, ‘We’re reclaiming our authority. Don’t listen to WEC anymore. Their guidances are null and void.'”

A Milwaukee native, Barnes is named after the former president of South Africa, Nelson Mandela. He is a graduate of John Marshall High School and Alabama A&M University. Before getting involved in politics directly, Barnes had worked for the office of former Milwaukee mayor, Thomas Barrett. He has also served as the Deputy Director of Strategic Engagement for a non-profit organization called State Innovation Exchange.

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It was in the year 2012 that Barnes entered the political arena directly when he announced his candidacy for the 11th Assembly District of Wisconsin. After he defeated incumbent Jason Fields in the Democratic Party primaries, Barnes won the general election unopposed. Barnes was re-elected in 2014 once again without any opposition in the primaries or the general election.