Mandela Barnes Talks Child Care, Marquette Poll in Eau Claire Visit

Former Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes visited Eau Claire this week as the August primary election approaches.

Barnes toured the Peach Tree Child Care Center at the Eau Claire Children’s Museum on Thursday morning, speaking with providers about his plan to implement free universal child care and cap child care costs for Wisconsin families. Following the tour, Barnes also highlighted the impact the expiration of the Child Care Counts bridge payment program could have on those providers and families.

“Families should be able to participate in the economy,” he said. “And that’s why we do need universal child care here in Wisconsin. It’s one of the very first things we brought up in the beginning of this campaign. We had a chance to visit a child care facility, talk to teachers, talk to parents, and talk to providers. And given the bridge payment, the fact is with that money being absent, child care providers are going to be faced with the impossible task of either raising prices, raising costs, which would price families out, or, you know, have to cut wages.”

Barnes also highlighted a recent Marquette Law School poll which showed him as the only Democratic Primary candidate included in the poll to be favored against Republican Congressman Tom Tiffany in the race for Wisconsin Governor this November.

“These last few weeks are vital,” he said. “And I want people to know the most important thing that the Marquette poll showed is that I am the only candidate beating Tom Tiffany in a general election. We’ve raised the most money throughout the entirety of this campaign and we are focused on carrying our movement through November because we are the best positioned to take on and defeat Tom Tiffany. There’s a real choice that people are going to have, not just on August 11th, but on November 3rd. It’s about which direction we want this state to go.”

Barnes will face off with State Representative Francesca Hong, State Senator Kelda Roys, former Department of Administration Secretary Joel Brennan, and Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley in the August 11th primary election. Crowley was not included in the Marquette Law School poll after suspending and re-launching his campaign while the poll data was being collected.