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>> Bombshell news in the
Democratic primary for

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governor. Former Lieutenant
Governor Mandela Barnes

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dropped out of the race
yesterday. Here to unpack

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the news. U.A.W. La Crosse
Professor of Political

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Science Anthony Chergosky.
And thanks very much for

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being here. Thank you. So
first of all, what's your

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reaction?
>> Just another plot twist

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in this campaign. I mean,
for months and months, Fred,

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there wasn't much happening
in the Democratic primary.

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Not a lot of activity, not
a lot of voter attention.

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And now in the month of
July, everything has

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happened all at once. And
so it's just been a flurry

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of fast moving political
developments all leading up

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to that key primary
election.

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Barnes was polling second
to Francesca Hong and had

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solid name recognition from
his run for Senate against

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Ron Johnson. What is afoot
here?

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>> Yeah. I mean, he did
have excellent name

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recognition coming into the
campaign. He had a national

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donor base that he could
draw on. But ultimately, it

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seemed like he just wasn't
able to catch up to Hong.

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It's worth noting, Fred,
that during the debate this

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week, he did not directly
go after Hong. He did not

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go negative on Hong. If
anything, Barnes was more

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focused on David Crowley
than he was the front

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runner. To me, it
symbolized how Barnes just

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couldn't quite get going in
this campaign. I think he

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started the campaign in
general election mode,

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really focusing on Tom
Tiffany more than his

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Democratic opponents. But
that might have been a

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misstep because while he
was trying to portray a

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sense of inevitability
around his nomination,

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Francesca Hong was quietly
building a lead.

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>> But if Barnes dropping
out had anything to do with

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the Journal Sentinel
reporting about him using

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his political influence to
basically get dates, though

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nothing criminal reported
there, he would have known

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that that was out there,
but he must have considered

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it not to be disqualifying.
>> Yeah, it's one of the

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mysteries of this campaign.
Like, why did this come out

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now? Not to mention, Fred,
why did this not come out

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during the 2022 U.S. Senate
race? I mean, Barnes's

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whole argument behind why
he could be electable this

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time around was that all
the bad stuff was out on

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the table. The 2022 U.S.
Senate campaign was a

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brutal, negative campaign
that had revealed all of

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the bad stuff, and so there
would be nothing new this

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time around. Turns out that
wasn't true. And so it just

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undermines one of the
justifications for his

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candidacy and one of the
arguments he made in favor

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of his electability.
>> And yet. And yet what's

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being reported and was
reportedly kind of

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investigated by the state
Democratic Party, it seems

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thin.
>> You know, it really

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raises the question to me
what his future might hold

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in the Wisconsin Democratic
Party, like how people

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within the party are going
to view this report, what

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came out in the Journal
Sentinel, the investigation

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that was conducted by the
party, what his future

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might hold in light of this
report, plus his two

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unsuccessful runs for
office.

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>> So Barnes dropping out,
where does it leave the

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remaining candidates,
including Evers, endorsed

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Milwaukee County Executive
David Crowley.

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>> Yeah, I mean, for David
Crowley, the question is,

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if he can get some of those
Barnes supporters and if he

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can quickly catch up to
Francesca Hong because the

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clock is ticking and poll
after poll shows that Hong

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is the front runner now. I
can see signs that Hong is

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already subtly pivoting to
the general election. She

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got through the debate just
fine. I was stunned that

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she did not have any of her
opponents go after her

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during the debate. I'm sure
her team was elated that

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she got through the debate
unscathed, because I

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thought that was the last
and best opportunity for

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her opponents to shake up
the campaign. So I was

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expecting all these
fireworks and all these

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negative attacks on Hong,
and that just didn't happen.

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So she's comfortably the
frontrunner. But like you

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said, Evers is now getting
behind Crowley. He had the

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endorsement earlier. He's
raising money for Crowley.

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He's getting out on the
trail. So it remains to be

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seen if Crowley can make a
last ditch effort to catch

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up with Hong.
>> Meanwhile, Republicans

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and their candidate in Tom
Tiffany have got to be

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loving this because even
Democrats say this is full

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on chaos.
>> Oh, it absolutely is.

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And Tom Tiffany has been
running a very positive

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biographical style campaign
trying to develop his

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political brand outside of
his congressional district.

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I think Republicans in
Tiffany are now also

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starting to shift into
general election mode,

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gearing up for a race
against Francesca Hong.

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>> And what a race it will
>> And what a race it will