Democratic Party of Wisconsin officials in 2025 hired an outside law firm to review allegations of inappropriate behavior involving young adult women against one of the party’s stars, Mandela Barnes.
The party launched the probe after someone sent an anonymous letter to then-party chairman Ben Wikler accusing the party of turning a blind eye to “the egregious way (Barnes has) used his office and power to gain access to women,” according to a person familiar with the party’s response to the letter.
Wikler was one of several within Democratic circles to receive the letter. He immediately flagged it for the party’s human resources and in-house counsel to look into, according to the person familiar, but the letter did not include specific allegations nor any names.
Ultimately, the review did not turn up anything the party could take action on because of its lack of details, according to the person familiar.
But concerns about Barnes’ relationships reached a fever pitch in recent weeks as the Democratic field has grown increasingly chaotic in the lead up to the Aug. 11 primary.
Three sources, who in recent days agreed to speak to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on the condition of anonymity, said Barnes, 39, has repeatedly taken advantage of his status within the party to seek sexual encounters with young adult women. One of the sources had a sexual relationship with him, while the other two had first-hand knowledge of the behavior. No one has alleged they were abused by Barnes.
They provided copies of texts and other messages dating back to 2017 to corroborate past discussions about their concerns.
Barnes is not accused of any crimes. There also were no complaints filed against Barnes while he was a representative in the state Assembly and as a state official, according to responses to requests for records made by the Journal Sentinel to legislative officials and to Gov. Tony Evers’ office.
In one case, a woman said she first had sex with Barnes when she was 21 after a party at the 2018 Democratic Party of Wisconsin convention following a night of heavy drinking. They continued to have sexual encounters for months afterward.
Barnes announced he was ending his campaign for governor on July 30, days after the news organization asked questions related to the newspaper’s investigation.
Late July 30, Barnes issued a statement:
“”I’m a single man and I have dated a lot. Looking back, there are times where I wish I acted with more maturity,” Barnes said. “But I want to be very clear. I have not nor am I being accused of any misconduct or wrongdoing.“
Letter to party leaders sounds alarm
The anonymous letter recirculated in the months before Barnes launched his campaign for governor in late 2025. A copy of the letter was mailed to new Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chairman Devin Remiker, with a note: “It’s sickening to think that the democratic party would allow him to rise to the top of yet another election, knowing everything that you know.”
A source shared a copy of the letter with the Journal Sentinel. A cover sheet indicated copies were also sent to the campaigns of Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez, state Sen. Kelda Roys and Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley. It is not clear if they actually received the letter, nor what they did with it if they did.
The letter was then distributed more widely. Ahead of the state party convention in June, where Barnes addressed delegates, the letter was sent to county party leaders.
Woman describes encounter in convention center hotel when she was 21
One woman who spoke to the Journal Sentinel about her experiences with Barnes said she met him in 2018 when she was 21 and attending her first Democratic Party of Wisconsin convention, held in Oshkosh that year. She was graduating from University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Barnes was then 31 and running for lieutenant governor.
The woman asked the Journal Sentinel not to publish her name to protect her privacy.
The woman said Barnes invited her to an after party at a room at the convention hotel. She said she saw Barnes, who was and is single, as a rising star in the Democratic Party, and an “inspirational and aspirational” leader.
“He certainly was not making it unclear that he was interested,” the woman said.
She said they went into the hallway, where Barnes started kissing her before suggesting they go to his car and get a room at another hotel.
She said they ended up driving to the top of a parking garage in his car, where they had sex.
She was “smitten” at the time, and excited that someone of “statewide caliber” was interested in her, the woman said.
Now she sees it differently.
She said she drank enough that night that she “could not have been of sound mind for an enthusiastic yes.”
“It was reckless of him,” she said. “I honestly think one of the things that made it so insidious is he did not stop to consider how naive and impressionable I was.”
She said she continued having a sexual encounters with Barnes afterward.
One of the sources who spoke to the Journal Sentinel confirmed that the woman was drunk that night, and that she told them shortly after the 2018 convention that she had sex with Barnes there.
Barnes’ latest race part of ascendent career
Barnes was elected to the state Assembly in 2012 when he was 25. He served two terms as a state representative.
He became the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor during the summer of 2018, which put him on the ticket with Evers, then the state public school superintendent. That November, Evers and Barnes defeated Republicans Scott Walker and Rebecca Kleefisch, flipping the state’s top offices to Democrats for the first time in eight years.
Barnes was the first African-American to serve as Wisconsin’s lieutenant governor, and just the second African-American to hold statewide office here. Many saw him as a new star in the party.
In 2022, he decided not to seek reelection and instead run against Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson. Barnes lost the election by about 27,000 votes, or one percentage point.
He went on to become president of Power to the Polls Wisconsin, a community organizing group that works to turn out infrequent voters.
He also founded Forward Together Wisconsin and The Long Run PAC, which aims to “invest in working class candidates, young candidates, candidates of color, and LGBTQ+ candidates.” A recent review of the PAC’s spending between 2023 and 2025 found less than 15% of the committee’s spending went to candidates.
Barnes was the early favorite in the Democratic field for governor but failed to close the gap with underdog turned frontrunner Francesca Hong, a democratic socialist
When Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez dropped out of the race last month following revelations that her campaign infrastructure and finances were in disarray, the race was thrown into chaos.
Rather than endorse Barnes, Evers and others convinced Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley to rejoin the race. Evers endorsed Crowley that same day.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Sources detail concerns about Mandela Barnes’ behavior toward women
Reporting by Mary Spicuzza and Molly Beck, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Mary Spicuzza and Molly Beck, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | USA TODAY Network
