Candidate for Wisconsin governor sues newspaper after reporter slept with him then allegedly published ‘defamatory’ story about his sex life

A former Wisconsin lieutenant governor and gubernatorial candidate has sued one of the state’s largest newspapers, claiming that a reporter slept with him before she plied her colleagues with information to publish a ‘defamatory’ story about his sex life.

Mandela Barnes filed the lawsuit in Milwaukee Circuit Court on Tuesday against the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel over an article published on July 30, entitled ‘Sources detail concerns about Mandela Barnes’ behavior toward women.’ 

He claims in the lawsuit that a female political reporter at the newspaper had a past sexual relationship with him, and was later involved in the flawed reporting process over what he said was his consensual sex life, Urban Milwaukee reports.

Barnes further alleged that his gubernatorial campaign told officials at the newspaper about the conflict of interest, but the newspaper did not disclose the relationship to its readers and instead rushed the story to print.

The lawsuit does not name the reporter involved. However, it indicates she is not one of the two women whose names ultimately appeared on the story. 

‘The Conflicted Reporter had previously maintained an intermittent sexual relationship with Barnes beginning in approximately 2018 and lasting several years,’ the complaint reads, according to Urban Milwaukee.

It goes on to claim that his gubernatorial campaign ‘promptly disclosed’ the relationship to executives at the newspaper on July 30.

In the aftermath, Barnes claims the executives ‘acknowledged that the relationship presented a conflict, removed the Conflicted Reporter from the matter and represented that other reporters would re-report portions of the story.’

Yet, the lawsuit notes, ‘The Journal Sentinel published the challenged allegations later that same day.’ 

‘The compressed interval between acknowledgment of the conflict and publication left little to no realistic time to conduct a genuinely independent reconstruction of the Conflicted Reporter’s work, including the origin and development of leads, source selection, interview history, framing and omitted contrary information,’ the suit states.

It adds that the published article ‘did not disclose the conflict, the Conflicted Reporter’s participation, her removal or the last-minute reporting process.’

The shocking allegations come just two weeks after Barnes and his attorney, Michael J Cerjak, made a formal demand for retractions to the story – which claimed that Barnes used his position within the state Democratic Party to initiate sexual relationships with multiple women.

It cited three people who spoke to the newspaper anonymously, who alleged that Barnes ‘has repeatedly taken advantage of his status within the party to seek sexual encounters with young adult women.’

The article even claimed the Democratic Party of Wisconsin hired an outside law firm in 2025 to investigate similar claims and ‘found nothing actionable.’ 

But in their 10-page letter to the newspaper on October 28, Barnes’ lawyers argued there was a dearth of evidence as they demanded a number of retractions.

The one-time lieutenant governor doubled down on those arguments in his lawsuit, stating that the assertions made in the story are false – and that mentioning these claims in a second story about him dropping out of the race for governor leaves readers with the false impression that the allegations against him were the reason he dropped out.

He maintains in the suit that he told executives at the Journal Sentinel prior to the stories’ publication that he was withdrawing from the race for what the October 28 letter described as ‘independent political and financial reasons.’

‘Mr Barnes did not withdraw because a party investigation had uncovered misconduct. No such investigation or finding existed,’ the letter read, according to the Wisconsin State Journal. 

‘He did not withdraw because he had committed or been credibly accused of wrongdoing,’ it continued.

‘The Journal Sentinel knew before publication that the withdrawal decision had been made and communicated independently of its subsequent decision to publish the allegations article,’ the lawyers said of the first article, which was published the day Barnes announced he was suspending his candidacy.

But lawyers for the paper were reportedly advised on November 4 that no changes or retractions to the article would be made, WTMJ reports. 

Barnes is now seeking compensatory and punitive damages to be awarded at a jury trial.  

‘I understand that seeking public office brings scrutiny and I respect the essential role of a free press,’ he said in a statement announcing the lawsuit.

But, he said: ‘Accuracy and fairness matter deeply when reporting affects a person’s reputation, family and future.

‘I dispute the reporting identified in this complaint and believe it created a materially false picture of me and my conduct. I asked the Journal Sentinel to correct it and the newspaper declined. 

‘I am bringing this case so the disputed facts can be examined through the legal process,’ he continued.

The former lieutenant governor went on to acknowledge that he is a ‘public figure’ under the law, and as such has to prove that the newspaper and its employees acted with ‘actual malice’ against him.

Actual malice is a legal standard for defamation cases brought by public figures, which means that the person who made a damaging statement did so knowing the allegations were false or showed ‘reckless disregard’ for the truth.

The standard has historically made it difficult for public figures to prove defamation or slander claims. 

Meanwhile, Greg Borowski, executive editor of the newspaper, said: ‘The Journal Sentinel stands by our reporting.’

‘The story went through our standard editing and legal review, and Mr Barnes was given the opportunity to respond before publication,’ he was quoted as saying in an article published by the Journal Sentinel about the lawsuit. 

The newspaper also maintained that the reporter with whom Barnes had a relationship ‘was not involved in reporting or writing the published story.’