Mandela Barnes sets 16-day bus tour to close race against Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson

Democrat Mandela Barnes has set an ambitious schedule for his closing sprint in Wisconsin's race for U.S. Senate.

His campaign said Wednesday that Barnes will embark on a 16-day bus tour that includes 100 stops across the state.

The tour starts Oct. 24 in Green Bay and includes an Oct. 29 rally in Milwaukee where Barnes and other top Democrats will appear at an event headlined by former President Barack Obama.

Barnes, the state's lieutenant governor, is also expected to make several joint appearances with Gov. Tony Evers and Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin. 

The most recent Marquette University Law School Poll showed Barnes trailing Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson by 6 points among likely voters. The poll showed the race tied among registered voters.

Barnes' campaign also announced several other initiatives as it tries to turn out voters for the Nov. 8 election.

The campaign said it has invested seven figures in a get-out-the-vote digital program to reach voters through Roku, YouTube, Snapchat, Instagram stories, Spotify and Hulu.

Part of the seven-figure program is targeted toward turning out voters of color through various online platforms, including Facebook.

The campaign said it will also work with influencers who create online content in the Milwaukee area.

The campaign added that it will also target students through on-campus initiatives, which include new and traditional campaign tools, including the use of influencers, text messaging and poster drops.

Johnson's campaign is also expected to roll-out a tour to close the campaign in one of the most closely-watched races in the country.

On Wednesday, Barnes criticized Johnson over the issue of Social Security during a Fish Fry for seniors at the Tripoli Shrine Center in Milwaukee. More than 250 people attended the event.

Johnson has said he wants to make Social Security and Medicare part of "discretionary" spending that would have to be voted on by Congress each year.

Barnes called Social Security an "intergenerational" issue that ties together his fellow Millennials with seniors.

Barnes said he supported "making sure the wealthy pay their fair share so that not only will Social Security be solvent for generations to come, we'll make it stronger than it has ever been before."

Nancy Altman, co-director of the non-profit organization Social Security Works, called Johnson "a clear and present danger to our earned benefits, to Social Security and Medicare. He's using Washington-insider talk. He calls it making the program discretionary. That's code for getting rid of the guarantee and putting it on the chopping block."

Johnson has pushed back against such declarations and during the second debate with Barnes said the solution to preserving the key retirement programs is to drive down deficit spending, stop inflation and end the war on fossil fuels.

"Let me be very clear, I want to save Social Security. I want to save Medicare," Johnson said.