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Bombshell News and the Democratic

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Primary for Governor, former

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Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes

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dropped out of the race yesterday.

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Here to unpack the news, UW-La

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Crosse Professor of Political

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Science, Anthony Tragoski.

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And thanks very much for being here.

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Thank you. So first of all, what's

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your reaction?

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Just another plot twist in

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this campaign.

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I mean, for months and months, Fred,

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there wasn't much happening in the

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Democratic primary.

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Not a lot of activity,

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not a lot of voter attention, and

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now in the month of July, everything

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has happened all at once.

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And so it's just been a flurry

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of fast moving political

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developments all leading up to that

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key primary election.

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So, though trailing,

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Barnes was polling second

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to Francesca Hong and

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had solid name recognition from

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his run for Senate against Ron

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Johnson.

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What is afoot here?

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Yeah, I mean, he did have

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excellent name recognition coming

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into the campaign.

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He had a national donor base

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that he could draw on.

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But ultimately, it seemed like he

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just wasn't able to catch up

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to Hong.

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It's worth noting, Fred, that during

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the debate this week, he didn't

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directly go after Hong.

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He did not go negative on

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Hong, if anything.

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Barnes was more focused on David

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Crowley than he was the frontrunner.

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To me, it symbolized how Barnes

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just couldn't quite get going in

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this campaign.

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I think he started the campaign in

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general election mode, really

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focusing on Tom Tiffany more

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than his Democratic opponents.

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But that might have been a misstep

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because while he was

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trying to portray a sense of

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inevitability around his nomination,

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Francesca Hong was quietly building

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a lead.

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But if Barnes dropping out

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had anything to do with

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the journal Sentinel reporting about

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him using his political

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influence to basically

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get dates, though

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nothing criminal reported

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there, he would have

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known that that

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was out there, but he must have

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considered it not to be

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disqualifying.

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It's one of the mysteries of this

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campaign.

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Like, why did this

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come out now?

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Not to mention, Fred, why

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did not come out during the 2022

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U.S. Senate race?

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I mean, Barnes' whole

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argument behind why he could be

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electable this time around was that

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all the bad stuff was out on the

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table.

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The 2022 U.

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S. Senate campaign was a brutal,

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negative campaign that had revealed

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all of the bad and so there would be

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nothing new this time around.

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Turns out that wasn't true.

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And so it just undermines one

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of the justifications for his

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candidacy and one of the arguments

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he made in favor of his

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electability.

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And yet what's being reported

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and was reportedly

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kind of investigated by

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the State Democratic Party,

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it seems thin.

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You know, it really raises

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the question to me what his

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future might hold in the Wisconsin

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Democratic Party, like how people

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within the party are going to view

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this report, what came out in the

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Journal Sentinel, the investigation

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that was conducted by the party.

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What his future may hold

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in light of this report plus

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his two unsuccessful runs for

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office.

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So Barnes dropping out,

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where does it leave the remaining

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candidates, including Evers

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endorsed Milwaukee County Executive

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David Crowley?

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Yeah, I mean, for David Crowley, the

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question is if he can get some

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of those barn supporters and if he

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could quickly catch up to Francesca

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Hong because the clock is ticking

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and poll The after pull shows that

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Hong is the front runner.

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Now I can see signs that

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Hong is already subtly pivoting

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to the general election.

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She got through the debate just

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fine. I was stunned that

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she did not have any

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of her opponents go after her during

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the debate.

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I'm sure her team was elated that

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she got through the debate unscathed

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because I thought that was the last

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and best opportunity for her

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opponents to shake up the campaign.

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So I was expecting all these

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fireworks and.

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All these negative attacks on Hong,

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and that just didn't happen.

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So she's comfortably the front

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runner. But like you said,

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Evers is now getting behind

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Crowley. He had the endorsement

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earlier. He's raising money for

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Crowley, he's getting out on the

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trail. So it remains to be seen if

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Crowley can make a last ditch effort

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to catch up with Hong.

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Meanwhile, Republicans and their

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candidate and Tom Tiffany have

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got to be loving this because

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even Democrats say this

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is full-on chaos.

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Oh, it absolutely is.

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And Tom Tiffany has been running a

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very positive, biographical

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style campaign, trying to develop

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his political brand outside of his

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congressional district.

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I think Republicans and Tiffany

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are now also starting to shift into

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general election mode, gearing up

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for a race against Francesca Hong.

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And what a race it will be.

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Anthony Chagaski, thanks very much.

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Thank you.

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I mean, yeah,

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the national media is

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just salivating over this.

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Oh, I know.

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I know, I know.

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It's it's going to be like another

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like the national media is going

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to descend on Wisconsin once

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again.

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So I mean, Francesca Hong is going

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to be one of the most talked about

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Democrats in the country for the

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next three months.

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Yeah. Yeah.

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She seems to be up for

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it, so.

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There you go.

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All right, thank you so much.

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Appreciate it, have a great weekend.

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Great to see you.

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Thank you.