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Senate Dems' best chances to expand majority may run through 2 unconventional lieutenant governors
Politico
John Fetterman and Mandela Barnes are both testing if battleground states will elect liberals to the Senate. That's not where the similarities between the two "tall and bald" men stop.
By MARIANNE LEVINE and HOLLY OTTERBEIN
06/13/2022 04:30 AM EDT
Two lieutenant governors hundreds of miles from each other may represent the Democratic Party’s best hope at gaining critical Senate seats. And it turns out they are “buds.”
Unlike the rest of the Democratic Party, Mandela Barnes was an early fan of John Fetterman’s and even donated a “few bucks” to his long shot 2016 Senate campaign. More than five years later, Fetterman returned the favor and became a “day one” donor to Barnes.
“He just seemed like a super interesting candidate, and incredibly authentic too,” Barnes said in an interview. “You see a person who shows up and doesn’t necessarily fit the mold of what we see as candidates for the U.S. Senate.”
Both lieutenant governors are now competing to flip Senate seats in their respective home states of Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, needed padding for Democrats intent on keeping their majority. Senators and party operatives stress that each politician faces his own electoral dynamic and embraces different policy positions. But both of their campaigns are a test of whether less traditional, more progressive Democratic candidates can win high-profile Senate races in battleground states.
snip
John Fetterman and Mandela Barnes are both testing if battleground states will elect liberals to the Senate. That's not where the similarities between the two "tall and bald" men stop.
By MARIANNE LEVINE and HOLLY OTTERBEIN
06/13/2022 04:30 AM EDT
Two lieutenant governors hundreds of miles from each other may represent the Democratic Party’s best hope at gaining critical Senate seats. And it turns out they are “buds.”
Unlike the rest of the Democratic Party, Mandela Barnes was an early fan of John Fetterman’s and even donated a “few bucks” to his long shot 2016 Senate campaign. More than five years later, Fetterman returned the favor and became a “day one” donor to Barnes.
“He just seemed like a super interesting candidate, and incredibly authentic too,” Barnes said in an interview. “You see a person who shows up and doesn’t necessarily fit the mold of what we see as candidates for the U.S. Senate.”
Both lieutenant governors are now competing to flip Senate seats in their respective home states of Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, needed padding for Democrats intent on keeping their majority. Senators and party operatives stress that each politician faces his own electoral dynamic and embraces different policy positions. But both of their campaigns are a test of whether less traditional, more progressive Democratic candidates can win high-profile Senate races in battleground states.
snip
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