Sex, A Reporter And A Lawsuit: Mandela Barnes Sues Milwaukee Newspaper

MILWAUKEE, WI — A former Wisconsin lieutenant governor is suing the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel for defamation, claiming the paper published a damaging story about his personal life after a reporter who once had an intimate relationship with him worked on it.

Mandela Barnes filed the suit Tuesday in Milwaukee County Circuit Court, the Journal Sentinel said in its own report on the lawsuit.

The two-count complaint challenges a pair of articles the paper posted online July 30, the day Barnes ended his campaign in the Democratic primary for governor. One cited three unnamed sources who said Barnes repeatedly used his standing in the party to pursue sexual encounters with young adult women, and reported that the state Democratic Party had hired an outside law firm in 2025 to look into similar claims and found "nothing actionable." The other covered his exit from the race.

Barnes is seeking unspecified damages and had asked the paper for a retraction and correction, which it refused. Executive Editor Greg Borowski told the paper the reporter in question did not report or write the published story.

According to the lawsuit, the Barnes campaign told the paper about the reporter's past relationship on July 30 and objected to her involvement, WISN 12 News reported. The suit says the newspaper acknowledged the conflict, took her off the story and told the campaign other journalists would redo parts of her reporting before it ran later that day. Readers were never told about the conflict, Barnes alleges.

He also claims the withdrawal story wrongly suggested the allegations pushed him out, saying he left for political and financial reasons of his own. The suit accuses the paper of actual malice and of publishing "false statements and implications despite contrary information and a disclosed reporting conflict." Barnes wants compensatory and punitive damages and a jury trial. Journal Sentinel Inc., owned by Gannett, has 45 days to respond.

The complaint also denies that any outside probe took place, according to the Wisconsin Examiner. It says the party's regular attorneys may have looked over an anonymous letter about Barnes, but that no one carried out a factual investigation. The suit also objects to AI-generated summaries the Journal Sentinel attached to the story, which repeated the law firm claim and linked his exit to the allegations.

Barnes' attorneys sent the paper a retraction demand Oct. 28, and the paper's lawyers replied Nov. 4 that nothing would be changed, WTMJ reported.

"The Journal Sentinel stands by our reporting," Borowski said in a statement. "The story went through our standard editing and legal review, and Mr. Barnes was given the opportunity to respond before publication."

The paper's coverage drew criticism soon after it ran. Days later, Urban Milwaukee editor Bruce Murphy called the reporting "irresponsible" and said Borowski owed readers an explanation.

When he dropped out, Barnes was running second to state Rep. Francesca Hong, 16 percent to 38 percent, in Marquette University Law School polling, and said it was clear who the party's nominee would be. Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, who reentered the race July 18, narrowly beat Hong in the Aug. 11 primary and defeated Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany on Nov. 3.

Barnes served two terms in the state Assembly before becoming Wisconsin's first Black lieutenant governor in 2018. He won the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in 2022 but lost to Republican Ron Johnson.