Wisconsin Democratic Senate candidate Mandela Barnes struck an optimistic tone a day before the election.
“I have gone into every election I’ve ever been in as the underdog, so this is no different,” Barnes, who currently serves as Wisconsin’s lieutenant governor, told reporters at a campaign canvas launch in the Milwaukee suburb of Glendale.
Barnes, who is locked in a neck-and-neck race with incumbent Sen. Ron Johnson, blasted his Republican opponent, noting Johnson’s campaign ads have gone viciously negative in the closing days of the midterm elections.
“The reality is, these commercials aren’t talking about what a wonderful job Ron Johnson has done because, you know, that’s too much of a lie for them to tell,” Barnes said. “The reality is he left us behind — he has no track record and no campaign to run on.”
And he touted the hard work his campaign has done in the final stretch. “I can honestly say we’ve done all that we could, and the most exciting and encouraging thing is that everything that everyone else has done—this has been a grassroots campaign since the very start, grassroots is the core—the amount of grassroots support that we have seen has not happened before here in the state,” he told CNN.
“We have been outspent by outside groups, the most expensive Senate race in the history of Wisconsin, but I can guarantee you, we have not been outworked. We’re leaving no stone unturned, all gas, no brakes for the next 35 hours or so,” he added.
He attempted to downplay anxiety from Democratic voters who feel anxious as fluctuations in polling show Democrats on track to potentially lose both chambers of Congress on Tuesday. He urged those frustrated with polls to show up and vote. “And if you’re that frustrated, bring three more people with you to vote.”
