Milwaukee Brewers executive Alex Lasry has dropped out of the Wisconsin Democratic Senate primary, opening the path for progressive Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes to secure the nomination as Democrats try to oust Republican Sen. Ron Johnson.
Lasry was Barnes’s top opponent and was well financed, having loaned himself $12 million. He will endorse Barnes later Tuesday, according to his campaign.
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“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 told Politico. “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.”
Barnes thanked Lasry for his endorsement in a statement shared with the Washington Examiner.
“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,” Barnes 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.”
“Throughout this race I have always been proud to call Alex a friend,” he added. “I look forward to continuing that friendship as we hit the trail. Together, we are going to unite Wisconsinites from every corner of the state to defeat Ron Johnson.”
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Lasry is the second contender to drop out this week as the Aug. 9 primary quickly approaches. Outagamie County Executive Tom Nelson stepped aside Monday due to a lack of funds and also pledged to support Barnes.
A Marquette University poll from June put Barnes leading with 25% of likely voters, followed by Lasry at 21%, state Treasurer Sarah Godlewski at 9%, and Nelson at 7%.
