Barack Obama, who has twice won Wisconsin by wide margins, will visit the battleground state in the final weeks of the ongoing midterm elections, seeking to boost Mandela Barnes, the young lieutenant governor who seeks to unseat Republican Ron Johnson in a U.S. Senate key contest.
Barnes would be the first black senator in Wisconsin. He held early leads over Johnson, but the Republican, a prominent figure on the GOP hard-right, backtracked. This week, a Marquette University Law School poll showed Johnson in the lead.
Barnes, who is from Milwaukee, tried to energize black voters in a contest that could decide Senate controlwhich is currently split 50-50 and controlled by Democrats thanks to the vote of Vice President Kamala Harris.
Obama, the first black U.S. president, is set to hold early voting on Oct. 29, less than two weeks before Election Day, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin’s largest city and home to its largest group of African voters. -Americans.
Politics reported this week that the Barnes campaign is reaching out to top Democrats, seeking support as he slips in the polls. Joe Biden, Harris and Bernie Sanders have also been named potential guests.
Since his first Senate bid in 2010, Johnson has cast himself as a successful businessman with conservative values.
But he leaned heavily into right-wing conspiracy theories around 2020 presidential election and Covid-19 vaccines and cures. In turn, his popularity rating fell to 45%, the second lowest for a Republican senator.
In a recent editorialThe Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the state’s largest newspaper, called Johnson “Wisconsin’s worst representative since the infamous Joseph McCarthy” and reminded readers that he had promised to serve no more than two terms, that he has now finished.
“Voters should hold him to that pledge in November,” the newspaper said.
But Johnson’s campaign has gained momentum. Early polls showed Barnes with a slight advantage, but Johnson launched an intense negative publicity campaign, attempting to represent Barnes as bad for the economy at a time of high inflation and as a supporter of activists who want to defund police departments.
The Lieutenant Governor did not support such campaigns.
During a heated debate last Thursday, Johnson, when asked to say something nice about his opponent, said that Barnes had loving parents and added: “What intrigues me about that , it is with this upbringing, why did he turn against America?”
Wisconsin has long been a swing state. After voting twice for Obama, Donald Trump beat Hilary Clinton in 2016 by less than a point. Biden won by an equally narrow margin four years later.
The state is home to tighter races this midterm season, including Democratic Gov. Tony Evers being challenged by Tim Michels, a Trump-endorsed construction company co-owner. Marquette polls have shown for months that the race is about even.
Tammy Baldwin, the state’s other U.S. senator, and Gwen Moore, a congresswoman who represents Milwaukee, are also expected to appear with Democratic candidates, including incumbent Attorney General Josh Kaul.