With the dust barely settled on the latest liberal Supreme Court win, the Democrats’ faux unity is finally starting to show cracks. The kumbaya act is over; knives are coming out.
The August 11 Democratic primary for Wisconsin governor has suddenly turned combative. What had been polite, agreeable positioning among a crowded field of seven major candidates has given way to pointed attacks on electability, past failures, and millions wasted on losing campaigns — all as the contenders scramble for a slice of the large pool of undecided voters.
State Sen. Kelda Roys fired the latest shot Friday on WISN-TV’s “UpFront,” taking direct aim at former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes. “We spent tens of millions of dollars trying to elect Mandela to the Senate. Unfortunately, that was unsuccessful,” Roys said. Translation: Barnes burned through a fortune and still lost to Ron Johnson on what should have been a winnable race. The remark landed as the state’s largest teachers union endorsed Roys, positioning her as the progressive alternative in a field still dominated by recency bias and prior name recognition.
Barnes has been neck and neck in early polling alongside state Rep. Francesca Hong, but both are dwarfed by a tidal wave of undecided voters, as high as 65% in a February Marquette Law School Poll. That leaves the field wide open for attacks as candidates jockey to consolidate support before the summer.
Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez, the current No. 2 in the Evers administration, went after rivals’ general-election prospects earlier this week at a Marquette College Democrats event. Rodriguez openly doubted whether Hong and Barnes could beat Rep. Tom Tiffany in November. Rodriguez is betting that only a suburban-friendly moderate can keep the governor’s mansion out of Republican hands.
“We spent tens of millions of dollars trying to elect Mandela to the Senate. Unfortunately, that was unsuccessful,” Roys said.
Hong, the Madison progressive darling, is beloved by Reddit activists but draws heat for her hard-left record on everything from a Wisconsin Green New Deal to Legalized Prostitution and a Hooker’s Bill of Rights. Rodriguez’s electability critique echoed private and not-so-private grumblings among Democrats that Hong’s profile might energize the base but falter in swing exburbs and rural areas where Tiffany is poised to clean up.
The left’s victory lap over their new Supreme Court seat lasted about five minutes before the knives came out. That harmony evaporated almost immediately once the focus shifted back to the governor’s race. Now it’s every Democrat for themselves. Barnes benefits from statewide name ID, Hong from grassroots enthusiasm, Rodriguez from her lieutenant governor perch, and Roys leans on union muscle and legislative credentials. Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, former Department of Administration Secretary Joel Brennan, and former Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. CEO Missy Hughes round out the field but are struggling to make an impact.
Conservatives are watching this circus from the sidelines, popcorn in hand, as a sign of deeper Democratic disarray as the candidates begin to cannibalize each other. Barnes’ Senate flop remains a costly reminder of the voters’ progressive tolerance in a state that twice backed Donald Trump. Hong’s activist resume is a liability outside the Madison bubble and the socialist left. Now, Rodriguez and Roys are busy pointing out these weaknesses.
With more than four months until the primary and most voters still tuning out, expect the bloodletting to get worse, especially on electability, coalition-building, and broad support. What began as a wide-open contest to succeed Evers is rapidly becoming a bloody scramble, where electability is the new battle cry, and unity is already a distant memory. Republicans, unified behind Tiffany, are content to watch the Democrats sort it out and will be ready to finish off whoever limps out of the primary.
