Godlewski Ends Run For U.S. Senate, Endorses Barnes: Report

WISCONSIN — State Treasurer Sarah Godlewski is the latest Democratic candidate to suspend their campaign for U.S. Senate, leaving frontrunner Lt. Gov Mandela Barnes largely alone in the running less than two weeks before the primary, according to reports.

The Cap Times was first to report the news. Voters will decide in the Aug. 9 primary election which Democratic candidate faces off against Republican incumbent U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson in the fall. Godlewski's drop from the campaign leaves Barnes likely to face off against Johnson and comes days after Alex Lasry and Tom Nelson also dropped out of the race. Steven Olikara remains in the running.

"I stepped up because, too often, Washington overlooks so many of the challenges working families face — from affordable child care and senior care to paid family leave to prescription drug costs to reproductive freedom. I believed we needed more working moms at the U.S. Senate table who would fight like hell to make these issues a priority — I still do," said Godlewski in a statement obtained by The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Incumbent Johnson had something to say about the news. He replied to a tweet by Journal Sentinel political columnist Daniel Bice.

"Showing their lack of respect for voters and the democratic process," Johnson wrote, "the power brokers of the Democrat party have now cleared the field for their most radical left candidate. Socialist policies have produced this mess, & a radical left Senator from Wisconsin is not the solution."

Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes accepted an endorsement from Godlewski after she suspended her campaign, he said in a statement Friday.

"Throughout this campaign, Sarah has been a leader in the fight to protect abortion access and a tireless advocate for working people and rural communities across Wisconsin," Barnes said. "I will proudly stand with her in those fights as we take on Ron Johnson in the fall."

Outagamie County Executive Tom Nelson and Milwaukee Bucks executive Alex Lasry have both also endorsed Barnes in recent days.

“We are in a stronger position than we have ever been to defeat Ron Johnson once and for all. And it’s because this is bigger than any one of us," said Barnes. "This is about retiring a Senator who has left working people in the dust for more than a decade while he doubled his own personal wealth and delivered for his wealthy donors."