Mandela Barnes launching PAC to help elect Democrats who struggle to attract establishment support

Former Wisconsin Lt. Governor Mandela Barnes (D) launched a PAC to help support Democrats who may not have enough support and resources to win their race.

“Running has taught me winning a race isn’t about what you do on race day – it’s about how you’ve trained and prepared,” Barnes said on the PAC website. “You have to devote time and resources in early phases to prepare for that run.”

“Running for office is the same,” he continued. “It’s hard. It’s grueling. It takes a lot of time, patience, and most importantly, people believing in you from the outset.”

Barnes announced on Tuesday that he is kickstarting The Long Run PAC, which will aim to “support diverse and groundbreaking pro-democracy candidates” to ensure that they have enough resources to help win their campaign. According to the PAC website, these candidates include “young candidates, candidates of color, LGBTQ+ candidates and candidates from working class backgrounds who are breaking the mold of what leadership looks like.”

Barnes narrowly lost his race for the Wisconsin seat in the Senate last election as he challenged incumbent Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wi.), who won his third term to the Senate with just 50.5 percent of the vote. Barnes faced a slew of negative ads during his race, as Johnson and many outside groups focused on running ads that portrayed Barnes as soft on crime.

“Despite being massively outspent and written off by nearly every pundit, Mandela came within 26,000 votes of defeating entrenched incumbent Republican Sen. Ron Johnson,” the PAC website reads.