Divided Democrats: Barnes’ Return Sparks Chaos in Wisconsin Governor Race

Paul Riverbank, 12/3/2025 Mandela Barnes enters Wisconsin’s wide-open governor’s race, spotlighting affordability and unity. With crowded primaries and voters still undecided, the campaign’s early days set the stage for fierce debates on jobs, prices, and who can truly deliver change.

Barnes’ name, by now, has become well-worn in Wisconsin politics, almost like a frequent guest at the state Capitol—first Black lieutenant governor, former assemblyman, and a Senate hopeful not so long ago. His loss to Senator Ron Johnson in 2022 was narrow. Painful for many in his party, perhaps, but since then, Barnes hasn’t faded quietly. He started a PAC, kept turning up at rallies, and never really slipped from the public eye.

Yet anyone hoping for an empty field this cycle will have to brace for some crowding. The Democrats are swirling. With Tony Evers stepping aside, the governor’s seat is up for grabs in a way Wisconsin hasn’t seen in a while. Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez wants it. David Crowley, Milwaukee’s county executive, is testing the waters. Kelda Roys, Francesca Hong, Missy Hughes—each bringing their own circles of loyalists, each fighting for traction. Even before Barnes declared, a Marquette poll found most Democrats didn’t have a favorite; four out of five, in fact, weren’t sure who’d get their vote.

Barnes isn’t exactly everyone’s uncontested champion. The Milwaukee Courier bluntly put it: this is not a year for the party to gamble, reminding readers that Barnes trailed Evers by a significant margin in 2022. National observers, like the Times, have quietly suggested he should skip this round. Even so, talk to local Democratic organizers, and plenty see the value in his relentless energy, or his comfort walking into any Milwaukee bar or Green Bay union hall and getting more than a handshake.

“Seems the harder you work, the more Washington just shrugs at you,” Barnes said, still hammering his message of affordability. “Lower taxes for billionaires, higher prices for families.” He’s trying to steer the conversation away from the political circus, dismissing all the performance and outrage that fills cable news, and returning once more to pocketbook worries that ring truer during trips to the grocery store than from Capitol Hill.

He doesn’t shy away from naming Donald Trump, linking the former president to “distraction and chaos,” but it’s clear Barnes is betting voters are tired of partisan fireworks. “It isn’t about who can yell the loudest,” he said recently. “It’s about life getting better here, now, for regular people.”

The Republicans, meanwhile, are not sitting quietly on the sidelines. Tom Tiffany and Josh Schoemann have already started making their rounds, hoping the changing tide will favor their party. Cook Political Report has called this race a “toss up” — which, in campaign circles, is shorthand for: all bets are off.

Truth is, with the primary not until August 2026 and the general election after that, most Wisconsinites haven’t tuned in seriously. There will be shakeups and stumbles. It’ll come down, as always, to basic kitchen-table issues: jobs, rising prices, whether ordinary people feel anybody in Madison actually has their back.

“Bringing people together — that’s what I’ve done,” Barnes said at a recent union meeting. Whether his pitch will cut through all the noise remains to be seen. What’s certain is that Wisconsin, once again, is shaping up as one of those states where campaign bus windows fog up with anticipation—and nobody, not yet, dares to predict who comes out ahead.

If you were walking down a cold Milwaukee street this week and glanced at your phone, you might have caught Mandela Barnes looking back at you—a quick, no-nonsense video, just him facing the camera, stripped of any smug polish. Instead of kicking off his run for governor with balloons or brass bands, Barnes pressed straight to the root: “Can you actually afford to live here?” It was the sort of challenge that makes folks on both sides of the political fence stop and blink.Barnes’ name, by now, has become well-worn in Wisconsin politics, almost like a frequent guest at the state Capitol—first Black lieutenant governor, former assemblyman, and a Senate hopeful not so long ago. His loss to Senator Ron Johnson in 2022 was narrow. Painful for many in his party, perhaps, but since then, Barnes hasn’t faded quietly. He started a PAC, kept turning up at rallies, and never really slipped from the public eye.Yet anyone hoping for an empty field this cycle will have to brace for some crowding. The Democrats are swirling. With Tony Evers stepping aside, the governor’s seat is up for grabs in a way Wisconsin hasn’t seen in a while. Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez wants it. David Crowley, Milwaukee’s county executive, is testing the waters. Kelda Roys, Francesca Hong, Missy Hughes—each bringing their own circles of loyalists, each fighting for traction. Even before Barnes declared, a Marquette poll found most Democrats didn’t have a favorite; four out of five, in fact, weren’t sure who’d get their vote.Barnes isn’t exactly everyone’s uncontested champion. The Milwaukee Courier bluntly put it: this is not a year for the party to gamble, reminding readers that Barnes trailed Evers by a significant margin in 2022. National observers, like the Times, have quietly suggested he should skip this round. Even so, talk to local Democratic organizers, and plenty see the value in his relentless energy, or his comfort walking into any Milwaukee bar or Green Bay union hall and getting more than a handshake.“Seems the harder you work, the more Washington just shrugs at you,” Barnes said, still hammering his message of affordability. “Lower taxes for billionaires, higher prices for families.” He’s trying to steer the conversation away from the political circus, dismissing all the performance and outrage that fills cable news, and returning once more to pocketbook worries that ring truer during trips to the grocery store than from Capitol Hill.He doesn’t shy away from naming Donald Trump, linking the former president to “distraction and chaos,” but it’s clear Barnes is betting voters are tired of partisan fireworks. “It isn’t about who can yell the loudest,” he said recently. “It’s about life getting better here, now, for regular people.”The Republicans, meanwhile, are not sitting quietly on the sidelines. Tom Tiffany and Josh Schoemann have already started making their rounds, hoping the changing tide will favor their party. Cook Political Report has called this race a “toss up” — which, in campaign circles, is shorthand for: all bets are off.Truth is, with the primary not until August 2026 and the general election after that, most Wisconsinites haven’t tuned in seriously. There will be shakeups and stumbles. It’ll come down, as always, to basic kitchen-table issues: jobs, rising prices, whether ordinary people feel anybody in Madison actually has their back.“Bringing people together — that’s what I’ve done,” Barnes said at a recent union meeting. Whether his pitch will cut through all the noise remains to be seen. What’s certain is that Wisconsin, once again, is shaping up as one of those states where campaign bus windows fog up with anticipation—and nobody, not yet, dares to predict who comes out ahead.