A Democrat who dropped out of the Wisconsin Senate race is giving the party a $600,000 surprise gift

The Milwaukee Bucks executive who dropped out of the Wisconsin Senate race this week is in a giving mood. After he immediately threw his support behind fellow Democrat Mandela Barnes, the state’s lieutenant governor, Alex Lasry is now offering another gift to boost his former rival.

Lasry said he will use $584,000 worth of previously purchased airtime to run attack ads against Republican Sen. Ron Johnson, his campaign told NBC News. The ads, set to begin airing Saturday, will focus on Johnson’s voting record, as well as his past comments about a Wisconsin company’s moving out of the U.S. to make products that are “dirt cheap.” While the ads don’t promote Barnes, who still has an Aug. 9 primary opponent in state Treasurer Sarah Godlewski, they will help accelerate Democrats’ ability to look toward the general election campaign for one of the most vulnerable senators seeking re-election.

Before he dropped out of the race Wednesday, Lasry was Barnes’ most formidable opponent in the primary field. Lasry, who is hosting a fundraiser for Barnes on Friday, spent more than $12 million on advertising to boost his name identification and had been polling a close second to the lieutenant governor. Barnes has kept his front-runner status since he entered the race, and Lasry’s own tracking data showed Barnes was pulling away, Lasry said in an interview. He dropped out just after another Democratic candidate, Tom Nelson, ended his run.

At a news conference Wednesday, Godlewski gave no hints that she was thinking about doing the same. “I believe I’m the best candidate to defeat Ron Johnson,” said Godlewski, who was polling in the single digits last month. Still, the recent turn of events has boosted Barnes, who had initially been cast as too progressive to win an election for federal office. Republicans tried Wednesday to paint Barnes as too liberal by pointing to a photo of him holding up an “abolish ICE” shirt.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2022-election/democrat-dropped-wisconsin-senate-race-giving-party-600000-surprise-gi-rcna40407