Political observers say Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett?s Democratic gubernatorial primary win hands Mahlon Mitchell his best shot at ousting Republican Rebecca Kleefisch from the lieutenant governor?s office. “It seems to me a Barrett-Mitchell ticket is more balanced,” says UW-Madison political science professor Barry Burden. “They come from different parts of the state. One is from Milwaukee and one is from Dane County. And Barrett has sometimes disagreed with the unions on key issues, whereas Mitchell is a union representative. So they have both sides of the divide.”
….According to Charles Franklin, a UW-Madison political scientist who is currently a visiting professor at Marquette University Law School, lieutenant governor candidates and name recognition don’t typically go hand-in-hand. “I think it’s conceivable that people go into June knowing very little about the lieutenant governor’s part of the ballot,” he says. “But you have party as a guide, so that seems not to matter very much.”