Kurt Kober (left) and Mandela Barnes
It can be a little lonely running for the second top job in Wisconsin government. With a whole pack of Democrats running for governor in the Aug. 14 primary, it’s easy for people to forget that there’s a competitive race for lieutenant governor, too.
“Lieutenant governor is an afterthought,” says former state Rep. Mandela Barnes (D-Milwaukee), who is running against Sheboygan businessman Kurt Kober to take on Republican Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch in November. “Even in the most informed rooms, people say, ‘I didn’t even realize we elect a lieutenant governor.’”
Kober agrees that the race is on the back burner for many voters.
“The lieutenant governor’s race is certainly one that can fall under the radar relative to the governor’s race in any election cycle,” says Kober.
However, both candidates say they will be a valuable asset to whichever Democrat ends up challenging Gov. Scott Walker this fall — but in different ways.
Barnes, 31, says he can energize communities of color and young voters to turn out and pull the lever for Democrats up and down the ballot.
“We have a lot of work to do in communities of color and with voters under the age of 35 — the most unreliable voter bloc. As someone who is under 35, I get to have that ‘we’ conversation with my peers,” says Barnes.
Barnes is pitching a renewable energy program to help create jobs in Wisconsin — which he says can put the state on a path to guaranteeing jobs for everyone.
Kober, 40, is concerned about how “some counties are melting away and other counties have been phenomenally successful.”
“It doesn’t have to be that way,” says Kober. “We live in a time where there are clear winners and losers in the economy. That’s happening in our state today.”
Kober says Democrats need to be “more innovative about communicating with voters across the state.”
“I think Democrats have a real chance of becoming a 72-county party again,” Kober says. “I think what you have seen in the last three elections in the governor’s race is that we’ve become increasingly focused on a handful of counties.”
Barnes has another approach. He disagrees that the party needs to reach out to voters who may have voted for President Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012, but then voted for President Donald Trump in 2016.
“If people are still with Donald Trump I’m not sure what we can do to get them back — quite frankly [the GOP] can have them,” says Barnes. “What I’m more concerned about is the Obama no-show voters. People who showed up in 2008 and 2012 but didn’t show up in 2016. I think that’s where our focus needs to be.”
The Wisconsin constitution prescribes no official duties for lieutenant governor (other than filling in for the governor when he or she is out of state, and replacing the governor if he or she resigns, is impeached or dies in office). Kleefisch performs various ceremonial roles in the Walker administration and has billed herself as the state’s “jobs ambassador.”
Unlike presidential elections with a combined ticket for each party, Wisconsin elects its governor and lieutenant governor on separate ballots. Barnes says that confuses people, too.
“Even our process to elect lieutenant governor is a little convoluted,” jokes Barnes. “People are like, ’So even if Scott Walker wins, you could still win, too?’ I’ve spent hours explaining that one.”
Once in office, it’s up to the governor to delegate duties to the lieutenant governor.
Barnes says, if elected, he hopes to be “part of getting an agenda through.”
“I want to be involved in the legislative process. As a former state representative, it’s important to me to see the incredible things happening in other states, happen here,” says Barnes. “That means expansion of healthcare. Upping our renewable energy standards in the state. And making sure education is fully funded.”
Kober would like to focus on public education if he’s elected Wisconsin’s second-in-command.
“When it comes to education, we live in a time where the world is changing really fast. I want to serve as an advocate for funding for public education,” says Kober. “But how do we also transform public education in our state that allows teachers to teach [while] also making it more seamless for students? We need to make sure our institutions are really set up to serve Wisconsinites as they continue to be lifelong learners.”
