MADISON, Wis.-- Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes won the Democratic Senate primary on Tuesday and will face two-term Republican Sen. Ron Johnson in what is expected to be one of the country's most competitive races as the parties battle for control of the U.S. Senate.
Barnes' top rivals dropped out of the race late last month and backed the former legislator, a sign of Democrats' intense focus on defeating Johnson, who is one of former President Donald Trump's most vocal supporters. The Senate is currently split 50-50, with Democrats relying on the vice president to break ties, and the Wisconsin contest is one of the few races seen as toss-ups in November.
In his victory speech in Milwaukee, Barnes emphasized his middle-class background and upbringing while casting Johnson as "self-serving" and "an out-of-touch politician" who cares only about special interests and wealthy donors.
"It is time for a change, everybody," said Barnes, who would be Wisconsin's first Black senator if elected. "It's time for us to be represented by somebody who shares our experiences."
Johnson called Barnes the "most radical left candidate" Democrats could have chosen.
Voters also were choosing a Republican nominee for Wisconsin governor who could reshape how elections are conducted in the marquee battleground, where Trump is still pressing to overturn his 2020 loss and backing candidates he sees as allies.
Trump has endorsed businessman Tim Michels, a self-described outsider who has put $12 million into his own campaign, against former Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch, who has support from former Vice President Mike Pence and ex-Gov. Scott Walker. Both candidates claim the 2020 election was rigged, though Kleefisch has said decertifying the results is "not constitutional," while Michels said "everything will be on the table."
The race to face Democratic Gov. Tony Evers is another proxy war between Trump and Pence, one-time partners now pursuing different futures for the Republican Party. They also backed opposing GOP rivals in primaries in Arizona and Georgia -- swing states that like Wisconsin are expected to be critical in the 2024 presidential race, when both men could be on the ballot.
The primary comes a day after FBI agents searched Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate as part of an investigation into whether he took classified records from the White House to his Florida residence, two people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.
Trump also has backed a little-known challenger to the state's most powerful Republican, state Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, who has rejected the former president's pressure to decertify the 2020 results.
Tuesday's outcomes have far-reaching consequences beyond Wisconsin, a state that is almost evenly split between Republicans and Democrats and where 2022 will be seen as a bellwether for the 2024 presidential race. The person elected governor this fall will be in office for the presidential election and will be able to sign or veto changes to election laws passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature.
Elsewhere Tuesday, another Trump-backed candidate won Connecticut's GOP primary to face two-term Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal. Republican National Committee member Leora Levy, whom Trump endorsed last week, defeated former state House Minority Leader Themis Klarides, who had support from the state party. Voters in Vermont -- the only state to never have a woman in its congressional delegation -- chose a woman, Becca Balint, as the Democratic nominee for the state's lone House seat. She is favored in the race to replace Rep. Peter Welch, who won the Democratic nomination for the Senate seat long held by Patrick Leahy, who is retiring. And Minnesota Republicans chose Dr. Scott Jensen, a covid-19 vaccine skeptic endorsed by the state GOP, to face Gov. Tim Walz.
But the most-watched races are in Wisconsin, where Trump has kept up his pressure campaign to cancel President Joe Biden's 2020 victory. Biden won by nearly 21,000 votes, four years after Trump also narrowly won the state by roughly the same margin. The 2020 outcome has been upheld in two partial recounts, a nonpartisan audit, a review by a conservative law firm and multiple lawsuits.
Both Michels and Kleefisch have said overturning the 2020 election results is not a priority. But they have said they would dismantle the bipartisan commission that runs Wisconsin elections and would support prohibitions on voters having someone else turn in their absentee ballots, as well as ballot drop boxes located anywhere other than staffed clerk offices.
Kleefisch is a former TV reporter who served with Walker for two terms, including when he effectively ended collective bargaining for most public employees in the state in 2011, drawing huge protests and a failed recall attempt. She says she is the best prepared to win statewide in November and to enact conservative priorities, including investing more in police, expanding school choice programs and implementing a flat income tax.
During a campaign stop with Kleefisch last week, Pence said no other gubernatorial candidate in the U.S. is "more capable, more experienced, or a more proven conservative."
Michels is co-owner of Wisconsin's largest construction company and has touted his work to build his family's business. He lost the 2004 Senate race to Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold, and has been a major donor to GOP politicians.
The candidate Trump endorsed to take on Vos, Adam Steen, has said he would decertify Biden's victory.
Information for this article was contributed by Gretchen Ehlke of The Associated Press.
Jeff Durbin rides away from his polling location at the Vilas Park Shelter after voting in Madison, Wis., Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2022. (Kayla Wolf/Wisconsin State Journal via AP)
Yuna Seong, center, looks over her completed ballot while voting at the Vilas Park Shelter in Madison, Wis., Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2022. (Kayla Wolf/Wisconsin State Journal via AP)
Karen Ruiz fills out her ballot in the Wisconsin partisan primary election during a visit with her son, Grabiel, to her polling place at Steamfitters Local 601 in Madison, Wis. Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2022. (John Hart/Wisconsin State Journal via AP)
Mandela Barnes leaves the voting area after casting his vote Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2022, at GreenTree Preparatory Academy in Milwaukee. Barnes is the Democratic candidate running for U.S. Senate. (Ebony Cox/Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel via AP)
Mandela Barnes speaks with Gary Sprong as he places an "I Voted" sticker on his chest Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2022, during the partisan primary at Green Tree Preparatory Academy located at 6850 N. 53rd St., Milwaukee. Barnes is the democratic candidate running for U.S. Senate. (Ebony Cox/Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel via AP)
FILE - From left, Rebecca Kleefisch, Tim Michels and Timothy Ramthun participate in a televised Wisconsin Republican gubernatorial debate on July 24, 2022, in Milwaukee. The winner of next week's primary will advance to face Democratic Gov. Tony Evers in November. (AP Photo/Morry Gash, File)