>> Bombshell news in the Democratic primary for
governor. Former Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes
dropped out of the race yesterday. Here to unpack
the news. U.A.W. La Crosse Professor of Political
Science Anthony Chergosky. And thanks very much for
being here. Thank you. So first of all, what's your
reaction? >> Just another plot twist
in this campaign. I mean, for months and months, Fred,
there wasn't much happening in the Democratic primary.
Not a lot of activity, not a lot of voter attention.
And now in the month of July, everything has
happened all at once. And so it's just been a flurry
of fast moving political developments all leading up
to that key primary election.
Barnes was polling second to Francesca Hong and had
solid name recognition from his run for Senate against
Ron Johnson. What is afoot here?
>> Yeah. I mean, he did have excellent name
recognition coming into the campaign. He had a national
donor base that he could draw on. But ultimately, it
seemed like he just wasn't able to catch up to Hong.
It's worth noting, Fred, that during the debate this
week, he did not directly go after Hong. He did not
go negative on Hong. If anything, Barnes was more
focused on David Crowley than he was the front
runner. To me, it symbolized how Barnes just
couldn't quite get going in this campaign. I think he
started the campaign in general election mode,
really focusing on Tom Tiffany more than his
Democratic opponents. But that might have been a
misstep because while he was trying to portray a
sense of inevitability around his nomination,
Francesca Hong was quietly building a lead.
>> But if Barnes dropping out had anything to do with
the Journal Sentinel reporting about him using
his political influence to basically get dates, though
nothing criminal reported there, he would have known
that that was out there, but he must have considered
it not to be disqualifying. >> Yeah, it's one of the
mysteries of this campaign. Like, why did this come out
now? Not to mention, Fred, why did this not come out
during the 2022 U.S. Senate race? I mean, Barnes's
whole argument behind why he could be electable this
time around was that all the bad stuff was out on
the table. The 2022 U.S. Senate campaign was a
brutal, negative campaign that had revealed all of
the bad stuff, and so there would be nothing new this
time around. Turns out that wasn't true. And so it just
undermines one of the justifications for his
candidacy and one of the arguments he made in favor
of his electability. >> And yet. And yet what's
being reported and was reportedly kind of
investigated by the state Democratic Party, it seems
thin. >> You know, it really
raises the question to me what his future might hold
in the Wisconsin Democratic Party, like how people
within the party are going to view this report, what
came out in the Journal Sentinel, the investigation
that was conducted by the party, what his future
might hold in light of this report, plus his two
unsuccessful runs for office.
>> So Barnes dropping out, where does it leave the
remaining candidates, including Evers, endorsed
Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley.
>> Yeah, I mean, for David Crowley, the question is,
if he can get some of those Barnes supporters and if he
can quickly catch up to Francesca Hong because the
clock is ticking and poll after poll shows that Hong
is the front runner now. I can see signs that Hong is
already subtly pivoting to the general election. She
got through the debate just fine. I was stunned that
she did not have any of her opponents go after her
during the debate. I'm sure her team was elated that
she got through the debate unscathed, because I
thought that was the last and best opportunity for
her opponents to shake up the campaign. So I was
expecting all these fireworks and all these
negative attacks on Hong, and that just didn't happen.
So she's comfortably the frontrunner. But like you
said, Evers is now getting behind Crowley. He had the
endorsement earlier. He's raising money for Crowley.
He's getting out on the trail. So it remains to be
seen if Crowley can make a last ditch effort to catch
up with Hong. >> Meanwhile, Republicans
and their candidate in Tom Tiffany have got to be
loving this because even Democrats say this is full
on chaos. >> Oh, it absolutely is.
And Tom Tiffany has been running a very positive
biographical style campaign trying to develop his
political brand outside of his congressional district.
I think Republicans in Tiffany are now also
starting to shift into general election mode,
gearing up for a race against Francesca Hong.
>> And what a race it will >> And what a race it will