In a stunning move less than two weeks before the primary election, Milwaukee Bucks executive Alex Lasry on Wednesday dropped out of the Democratic U.S. Senate race after spending more than $12.3 million on the race.
In an interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Lasry said he is backing the front-runner, Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes.
“Mandela won this race,” Lasry said.
An official announcement will be made during a press conference scheduled for Wednesday afternoon.
Lasry’s withdrawal put Barnes in the driver’s seat to win the Aug. 9 primary and face Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson in the fall.
Lasry is consistently second in the polls behind Barnes. An internal Barnes poll released by his campaign this week showed Barnes up 39 percent to 25 percent over Lasry.
Lasry said he had spoken with Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin in recent days and contacted Barnes on Tuesday to inform him of the decision.
“After talking to Tammy and seeing the data, I think it was clear that there was no way forward for us to win,” Lasry said.
“We wanted to make sure we were able to come together and rally our support to make sure we spent every second we could to get Ron Johnson out of office,” he said. “It’s clear that the lieutenant governor will be the nominee.”
In a statement, Barnes said he was “grateful to Alex for all the work he’s done to move Wisconsin forward, and I’m proud to have his endorsement.”
“I deeply admire Alex’s commitment to creating good union jobs and raising wages throughout his career and through this campaign, and the work he has done to bring pride and opportunity to Milwaukee, a city we both love Barnes said in the statement.
“Throughout this race I have always been proud to call Alex a friend. I look forward to continuing this friendship as we walk down the aisle. Together, we will unite Wisconsinites from every corner of the state to defeat Ron Johnson.
Lasry’s exit is the second major move this week in the race. Outagamie County Executive Tom Nelson resigned Monday.
Irene Lynn, who ran Nelson’s campaign, said Nelson’s withdrawal “means Alex Lasry has no path to victory. Now we can all work together to rally behind Mandela Barnes and defeat America’s worst senator in Ron Johnson’s face.”
State Treasurer Sarah Godlewski is still in the race, but trailed Barnes by double digits even before Lasry and Nelson withdrew from the race. She was off the air for most of June and July.
Lasry insiders suggest that much of Godlewski’s support shifted to Barnes while she was not running TV ads, making it inevitable that the first-term lieutenant governor would secure the Democratic nomination.
Lasry, born in New York, came to Milwaukee eight years ago when his father, billionaire Mark Lasry, became part of the Milwaukee Bucks ownership group.
More: Bice: Bucks exec Alex Lasry, 33, given COVID-19 vaccine, says he was ‘lucky’ to jump the line
As the team’s senior vice president, Lasry made a big splash locally when he helped spearhead the effort to secure Milwaukee the 2020 Democratic National Convention. But the big show has become a mostly virtual event due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Even before entering the race, Lasry was under fire nationally for receiving the coronavirus vaccine in January 2021 at a senior center in Milwaukee, despite not being part of a group currently eligible for vaccine in Wisconsin.
When he announced his candidacy a month later, Lasry pledged to invest in the race and poured over $12.3 million into the race. The cash infusion allowed him to begin airing television ads last fall, a move that helped establish his name in an effort to steadily close the gap on Barnes, the favorite.
More: Bice: U.S. Senate candidate Alex Lasry’s luxurious roots include elite schools, Michael Jackson home, $50 million-plus trust
Lasry appears to be making headway, with a Marquette University Law School poll last month showing him within four percentage points of Barnes.
Key elements of his campaign revolved around his work with the Milwaukee Bucks, building the Fiserv Forum and the team’s $15 an hour minimum wage.
“We’re not just talking about a $15 minimum wage, we’re paying it,” Lasry said. Critics noted that the pay did not begin until 2020, with Fiserv Forum maintaining a six-month trial starting pay of $14 an hour.
More: Bice: Alex Lasry uses Milwaukee Bucks ties to run for US Senate despite being on leave
Lasry’s constant refrain during the election campaign was “putting money in the pockets of working people”. He also tried to run as a Make It in America Democrat, pledging to support manufacturing.
He was able to secure major endorsements from labor and also had the support of Milwaukee’s two leaders, Mayor Cavalier Johnson and County Executive David Crowley.
But Lasry faced opposition from the party’s left and had to fight the perception by some that he was trying to buy the race.
Lasry told the Journal Sentinel he was “proud” of the “positive” campaign he ran and the issues he raised.
Asked about his political future, Lasry said, “Whether it’s running for something in the future or just making sure we elect Democrats up and down, that’s something I’ll always be involved in.
“But now I’m going to go enjoy some much-needed downtime with my wife and daughter, get back to the Bucks and make sure we can do everything we can to win a championship and get Mandela elected and Tony (Evers ) to be selected and Josh (Kaul) was selected.”
Contact Daniel Bice at (414) 313-6684 or dbice@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter @DanielBice or on Facebook at fb.me/daniel.bice.
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