Mandela Barnes

Mandela Barnes (born December 1, 1986) is an American politician and community organizer. Barnes was the 45th Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin from 2019 to 2023. He was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from 2013 to 2017.

Political career
Barnes voted for U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders for President of the United States in the 2016 and 2020 Wisconsin presidential primaries.

Barnes was the Democratic nominee for Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin in the 2018 election running alongside Tony Evers and they won the general election in November 2018.

2022 U.S. Senate campaign
In July 2021, Barnes announced his candidacy for United States Senate in the 2022 election running against Republican Senator Ron Johnson. If elected, he would be the first Black person to represent Wisconsin in the U.S. Senate. In August 2022, he won the Democratic nomination. He narrowly lost the election to Johnson in November 2022.

2026 gubernatorial election
In December 2025, Barnes announced his candidacy for governor of Wisconsin in the 2026 gubernatorial election.

References

Other websites
Campaign website

Category:1986 births
Category:Living people
Category:American political activists
Category:State legislators of the United States
Category:Lieutenant Governors of Wisconsin
Category:Politicians from Milwaukee
Category:Democratic Party (United States) politicians