Mandela Barnes

Born and raised in Milwaukee, Lt. Gov. Barnes is the son of a public-school teacher and a manufacturing assembly line worker—both union members to whom he credits with shaping his worldview. A proud product of Milwaukee Public Schools, he graduated from John Marshall High School in 2003. Barnes, a top contender in the 2022 US Seante race and a rising star in the Democratic party, has frequently talked about his support for Medicare for All, the Green New Deal and making corporations and wealthy people pay their fair share. He’s traveled the world pushing action on climate change. Progressive groups like Democracy for America, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee and the Working Families Party all endorsed his candidacy within hours of its existence. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., one of the Senate's most prominent progressives, endorsed Barnes this week. Barnes, who goes by his middle name in honor of the South African freedom fighter, grew up in the inner city of Milwaukee and attended college at Alabama A&M, a historically Black university. He worked as a community organizer before winning a seat in the Wisconsin Assembly in 2012, representing part of the north side of Milwaukee. After winning the 2018 Democratic primary for lieutenant governor, he and now-Gov. Tony Evers toppled Scott Walker, a two-term Republican. That victory made Barnes the first Black person to hold the office and only the second Black person ever to win a statewide race in Wisconsin. As lieutenant governor, Barnes has unabashedly aligned himself with the progressive wing of the Democratic Party.