Billionaire's Son Drops $12 Million, Scrambles Race to Face Ron Johnson

[Celerity]

For months, Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes led the race and collected several prominent Democratic endorsements. But in the last quarter, the dynamics changed.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/billionaires-son-alex-lasry-drops-dollar12-million-scrambles-democratic-race-to-face-ron-johnson



For months, Wisconsin Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes looked like a runaway candidate for the Democratic Senate nomination in the state, which would pit him against Sen. Ron Johnson (R) in November. A progressive star who’d already won a statewide election, Barnes has racked up endorsements from Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (SC), Sen. Cory Booker (NJ), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (MA) and more since announcing his candidacy in July 2021.

He’s the state’s first Black lieutenant governor, would be the state’s first Black senator, and could be one of the youngest members of the Senate—all factors that traditionally drive excitement for candidates among Democrats. Although he originally entered an already buzzing field of Senate hopefuls, he had the benefit of name recognition and popularity among the state-party’s base.

But as the Aug. 9 primary creeps closer, Barnes’ Democratic primary opponents are increasingly on his tail, none more than Milwaukee Bucks executive Alex Lasry—and his money. Lasry, who is the son of billionaire and Bucks co-owner Marc Lasry, had been running for months before Barnes hopped in the race. He’d positioned himself as being focused on the economy and a pro-labor candidate. Yet even around the turn of the new year, he was trailing Barnes by double digits.

A Data for Progress poll in December had Barnes at 39 percent of the vote share and Lasry at 16 percent. A February Marquette poll showed Barnes at 23 percent while Lasry was at 13 percent. But in the last three months, Lasry’s been on a spending blitz. Last quarter alone he pumped $6.5 million of his own money toward his campaign, bringing his total self-lending to $12.3 million, which has afforded him a monsoon of advertising and paid communications at a vital time in the race.

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