Progressive Mandela Barnes Leads Ron Johnson by 7 Points in New Poll

Wisconsin’s progressive Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes—now the official Democratic nominee for the key battleground state’s U.S. Senate race following last week’s primary victory—is currently leading his far-right opponent, incumbent Republican Sen. Ron Johnson, by 7 points.

Barnes is supported by 51% of registered voters while Johnson, an ultra-wealthy Trump loyalist running for a third term, has the backing of 44%, according to a new Marquette Law Poll released Wednesday.

Barnes’ lead has grown significantly over the past two months. In mid-June, a Marquette Law Poll gave Wisconsin’s then-presumptive Democratic Senate nominee a 2-point advantage over Johnson (46% to 44%).

The lieutenant governor is also doing increasingly well with Independents, expanding his vote share among that demographic from 41% in June to 52% as of this week. Over the same time period, Johnson’s support among Independents has fallen from 41% to 38%.

Half of voters say that Barnes—a supporter of Medicare for All who has picked up endorsements from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), trade union leaders, family farmers, and local elected officials across Wisconsin—cares about people like themselves, while just 27% say that he doesn’t.

By contrast, 41% of voters say that Johnson—one of the GOP’s would-be executioners of Social Security and Medicare—cares about people like themselves, and 49% of people say that he doesn’t.

Barnes is viewed favorably by 37% and unfavorably by 22% of voters, while Johnson is viewed favorably by 38% and unfavorably by 47% of voters—giving the two candidates net-favorability ratings of plus-15 and minus-9, respectively.

“People are done being represented by an out-of-touch, self-serving multimillionaire like Ron Johnson,” Barnes tweeted Wednesday.

Originally published at Commondreams.org.