Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) has endorsed Lt. Governor Mandela Barnes (D-WI) in his bid to challenge incumbent Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI).
Barnes, who is hoping to earn the Democratic nomination in August, said “let’s get this done @ AOC” on Instagram in response to the congresswoman’s backing. Wisconsin is seen as one of the key states in the battle to control the Senate to be determined in the upcoming midterm elections.
“We are not powerless, and we are never beyond hope. History shows us the way,” Ocasio-Cortez posted on Instagram. “We CAN do more to pursue these items more aggressively. And THEN once we do, we can secure the W and turnout the vote for [John Fetterman] in PA, [Mandela Barnes] in WI & [Tim Ryan] in OH this November.”
The New York congresswoman added in her post that if these candidates were elected Democrats could expand the Supreme Court, get rid of the Senate filibuster, repeal the Hyde Amendment, and codify Roe v. Wade and same-sex marriage.
According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Barnes’ campaign said he supported her policy prescriptions with the exception of adding Supreme Court seats.
“On Supreme Court expansion, Mandela is open to the conversation, but his priority is reform,” Barnes’ spokeswoman Maddy McDaniel said. “He believes the Supreme Court should be subject to the same basic ethics rules as every other court in the country. He also supports term limits for justices.”
Both state and national Republicans decried Ocasio-Cortez’s endorsement of the self-described progressive, saying that it showed voters that the Senate hopeful would support radical policies if elected.
Anna Kelly, communications director for the Republican Party of Wisconsin, told The Daily Wire that Barnes was being propped up by “fringe-left” Democrats.
“The fringe-left members of the Democrat Party are propping up Mandela Barnes because they know he would support their socialist agenda in the Senate. Barnes tries to waffle on issues like defunding the police and abolishing ICE, but he campaigns alongside advocates like Ilhan Omar and trots out endorsements from far-left figures like Elizabeth Warren, so Wisconsin voters won’t buy his efforts to pretend to be moderate,” Kelly said in a statement.
The Republican National Committee said that the endorsement demonstrated that Barnes would support Left-wing policies in office and that “Wisconsin voters will let her keep her extreme policies in New York and soundly defeat Barnes this November” according to a statement from RNC spokesperson Rachel Reisner.
The Daily Wire reached out to Barnes for comment on the endorsement.
Barnes told NBC in September that he had “more progressive credibility than any person running.”
The Wisconsin Democrat has also been endorsed by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), and Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA)
On his campaign website, Barnes says he will work to protect “abortion rights” and says that he supports an immigration plan that “includes a path to citizenship.”
Johnson told The Daily Wire last week that he expects the Senate race in Wisconsin to come down to the wire.
“This U.S. Senate race is crucial if we want to gain the majority, if we want to stop the Biden agenda,” the two-term senator said.