Mandela Barnes dropped his bid for governor on Thursday, scrambling the race to replace Gov. Though he didn’t name her, democratic socialist lawmaker Francesca Hong has led recent polls. Barnes called on Democrats to rally to defeat Republican US Rep. Tom Tiffany, who is all but certain to be the GOP nominee in the perpetual battleground state. In the video, Barnes said he had a “very difficult conversation” with his staff Wednesday night. “We have to do everything to beat Tom Tiffany.