Mandela Barnes gets open path to take on Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson

Democrats hoping to flip Wisconsin’s Senate seat got a boost Wednesday when one of the party’s leading candidates bowed out and endorsed a rival, virtually clearing the field ahead of an expensive, hotly contested general election.

Milwaukee Bucks executive Alex Lasry withdrew from the Democratic Senate primary Wednesday afternoon and endorsed Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes to take on Republican Sen. Ron Johnson.

His departure from the race leaves a nearly open path for Barnes to capture the nomination in the Aug. 9 primary. Lasry, who loaned his campaign more than $12 million, has been Barnes’ top opponent for months.

Democrats welcomed the bombshell news, arguing that it will give Barnes a head start against Johnson in one of the most pivotal Senate races in the country and aid his fundraising operation. Johnson has $3.6 million in the bank as of the latest campaign finance reports, compared to Barnes’ $1.5 million.

Wisconsin is the last big question mark left for Senate Democrats in terms of setting their candidate lineup, and Barnes’ likely win means the party has its candidate roster all-but set for the general election.

“I don’t think there’s any question it helps,” said Joe Zepecki, a Wisconsin-based Democratic strategist. “Any time there’s a contested primary, you figure it’s going to take a couple days to put everybody back together. Because of how late our primary is, the faster you can get that done, the better. The other thing that I think is really important is this sends a signal to donors that they can now coalesce as well.”

Lasry is the second Democratic candidate to step aside from the race this week. Tom Nelson, county executive of Outagamie County, suspended his bid two days ago and threw his weight behind Barnes. The only major Democrat remaining in the race, state Treasurer Sarah Godlewski, has been polling in the single digits.

“We’ve been saying since day one, the most important thing that we can do for Wisconsin is to get rid of Ron Johnson,” Lasry said in his first interview about the news. “I firmly believe that if there was no path to victory, the best thing to do is to make sure that we can as early as possible rally around a nominee so that we can spend every second that we have making sure that we’re working toward that goal.”

Wisconsin is one of the top Senate battlefields this fall, and Democrats see it as among their best pick-up opportunities in the nation. A recent poll found Johnson behind most of his Democratic opponents, including Barnes. But Republicans argue Johnson has been underestimated before and won.

Bill McCoshen, a Wisconsin-based Republican consultant, said Lasry’s departure benefits Barnes in the short term because “it allows Barnes to save the million and a half he was going to spend over the next two weeks for the general.” But over the long stretch, he said, it doesn’t make a difference.

“Johnson was OK with any of the match-ups, and for the last six months, it’s been pretty obvious that it was likely to be Barnes. So I think he’s ready for that,” he said. “This will be a nationalized race, where voters are going to have to make a choice: Do they like the direction the country’s headed? And if so, Barnes is committed to continuing that.”

Johnson’s campaign quickly moved to tie Barnes to policies unpopular with Republicans and many swing voters.

“It’s clear Democrats are uniform in their support for more of the same Biden policies that got us in this mess in the first place: runaway spending, the Green New Deal, defunding the police and abolishing ICE,” said Johnson campaign adviser Ben Voelkel. “That vision for the future will be a tough sell for so many Wisconsin families that are already suffering from record inflation, high gas prices, out-of-control crime and an unsecured border.”

Unlike in past years, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee did not hand-pick its candidates in swing-state races this year. In other contests, that neutral approach sometimes led to sharp-tongued primaries. For instance, in Pennsylvania’s Democratic Senate race, a super PAC opposing Lt. Gov. John Fetterman called him a “silver spoon socialist.” Fetterman went on to win the nomination.

Gary Peters, chair of the DSCC, sought to project neutrality in Wisconsin’s Senate contest even after news spread that Lasry was going to drop out.

“We still have Sarah Godlewski that’s in the race and she’s been out there working hard. But clearly you’ve got a smaller field now, so that’ll change some of the dynamics going forward,” he told POLITICO. “Our position is we’re hands off on the primary right now.”

Godlewski’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Though the DSCC stayed out of the primary, Lasry said he spoke a couple of times with Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) and “got her advice” about his decision to withdraw.

“After talking with Tammy and seeing the data, it was just clear that Mandela was going to be the nominee,” he said. “Everyone came to the conclusion that if there’s no path forward, the best thing to do is to make sure that we’re able to unite the party.”

Lasry said he informed Barnes of his decision on Tuesday. Barnes said in a statement that he has “always been proud to call Alex a friend.”

“I am so grateful to Alex for all of the work he’s done to move Wisconsin forward, and I’m proud to have his endorsement,” he said. “I deeply admire Alex’s commitment to creating good union jobs and raising wages throughout his career and throughout this campaign, and the work he’s done to bring pride and opportunity to Milwaukee, a city we both love.”

Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), who endorsed Barnes, said the lieutenant governor is still taking the Senate primary seriously.

“He has a lot of continued grit and determination to show the Democratic primary voters that he can be a great general election candidate,” Booker said.

Lasry, who received early support from labor unions, cast himself as a candidate who could get things done. He received plaudits from Democrats for a television commercial in which he bluntly said, “Here’s an idea: If we make things here in America, supply chain issues won’t be a thing anymore.”

Lasry and Barnes have been nearly neck and neck in public and private polling in recent months. A survey by Marquette University Law School in June found Barnes winning 25 percent of the vote, while Lasry captured 21 percent. The margin of error for that poll was plus or minus 6.2 percent.

But Barnes always had the pole position, and his campaign released an internal survey this week that indicated he was expanding his lead. It showed him ahead of Lasry by 14 percentage points. Godlewski trailed Barnes by 27 points.

Throughout the primary, Barnes has highlighted his middle-class roots in contrast to his well-heeled opponents in both parties. A TV ad by Barnes took a shot at “the other millionaires running for Senate.”

Barnes has sought to appeal to a broad swath of the electorate, winning nods from establishment Democrats such as Majority Whip Jim Clyburn as well as progressives like Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Still, a victory by Barnes in the Democratic primary would be a win for the progressive movement. Barnes has voiced support for Medicare for All and a Green New Deal, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and the left-wing Working Families Party are among his top allies. Lasry, by contrast, ran a more center-left campaign.

Barnes would be the first Black senator of Wisconsin if elected. At 35, he would also be one of the youngest senators currently in the chamber.

Barnes said that he and Lasry would hit the trail together soon to “unite Wisconsinites from every corner of the state to defeat Ron Johnson.”

In the interview, Lasry said Barnes is a “friend” and that Barnes “always put the state … and his constituents … above party and politics.”

Asked whether he will be involved in politics in the future, Lasry said, “I know we always love to talk about the next race, but I’m very focused on this one. And whether it’s running for something or making sure we’re getting good people and good Democrats elected, I will be involved in that always. I’ve always been involved in that.”