Alex Lasry, an executive who is on-leave from his position with the Milwaukee Bucks, dropped out of the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate on Wednesday after spending more than $12,300,000 of his own money on his campaign.
In an interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Lasry endorsed Lt. Governor Mandela Barnes, saying that “Mandela won this race.” He also said that he talked with U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), saying that “after talking with Tammy and seeing the data, I think it was clear that there was no path forward for us to be able to win.” In regards to his future in politics, Lasry said that “whether it’s running for something in the future or just making sure that we’re getting Democrats elected up and down the ballot, that’s something I’m always going to be involved in. But now I’m going to go enjoy some much needed downtime with my wife and daughter, go back to the Bucks and make sure we can do all we can to win a championship and get Mandela elected, and Tony [Evers] elected and Josh [Kaul] elected.”
In a statement provided to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Barnes said that he was “grateful to Alex for all the work he’s done to move Wisconsin forward, and I’m proud to have his endorsement.” The campaign manager for Outagamie County Executive Tom Nelson, who also recently dropped out and backed Barnes, responded that “it’s clear Tom Nelson graciously stepping aside to endorse Mandela Barnes meant Alex Lasry had no path to victory. Now we will all work together to unite behind Mandela Barnes and defeat America’s worst senator in Ron Johnson.”
