WISCONSIN REPUBLICAN WILL RUN FOR RE-ELECTION
Vocal Trump backer had said he wouldn’t seek 3rd Senate term
Sen. Ron Johnson, RWis., one of former President Donald Trump’s biggest backers, announced Sunday that he will seek re-election, breaking his promise not to seek a third term.
Johnson announced his decision via email two days after a pair of Republicans with knowledge of his decision told The Associated Press that he was close to launching a bid. Johnson over the past year has been a leading voice in downplaying the Capitol riot and the coronavirus pandemic, in addition to remaining a vocal Trump supporter.
President Joe Biden won the state by fewer than 21,000 votes in 2020 after a similarly narrow win by Trump in 2016. Johnson won by nearly 5 points in 2010, his first race for office, and then by just over 3 points in 2016. Both times he defeated Democrat Russ Feingold.
Johnson’s announcement that he will run again came a day after Republican Sen. John Thune, of South Dakota, said he would seek a fourth term. No other Senate retirements are likely beyond the five Republicans and one Democrat, Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, who have already announced plans to step down.
Johnson, 66, had long said his preference was to serve just two terms and pledged in 2016 not to run a third time.
But Johnson rescinded the pledge in the lead-up to announcing his re-election bid, saying circumstances have changed after Democrats won the White House and control of Congress.
“Much as I’d like to ease into a quiet retirement, I don’t feel I should,” Johnson wrote in an editorial announcing his re-election bid. He said the response to the coronavirus pandemic also played a part in his decision to run again.
Johnson, who contracted COVID-19 in October 2020 and is not vaccinated, has cast doubt over the efficacy of vaccines and pushed for unproven treatments.
Just last week, Johnson on conservative talk radio said, “Why do we think that we can create something better than God in terms of combating disease? Why do we assume that the body’s natural immune system isn’t the marvel that it really is?”
Johnson has espoused conspiracy theories related to the Capitol riot that attempted to shift blame for what happened away from Trump supporters.
Johnson has since downplayed the violence, saying it “didn’t seem like an armed insurrection to me.”
Just before the U.S. Capitol was stormed a year ago, Johnson objected to counting the Electoral College votes from Arizona. Last year, he told Republicans who control the Wisconsin Legislature that they should take over control of federal elections.
Republican Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said on Friday that there is “zero chance” of the Legislature taking over the awarding of the state’s 10 presidential elector votes in 2024.
Johnson’s opponent won’t be known until after an Aug. 9 primary. Several highprofile and well-funded
Democrats are running, including Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, who is seeking to become the state’s first Black senator; Milwaukee Bucks executive Alex Lasry; state Treasurer Sarah Godlewski and Outagamie County Executive Tom Nelson.
Barnes, Godlewski, Nelson and other Democrats faulted Johnson for breaking his promise to serve only two terms.
Johnson’s decision also has ripple effects on Wisconsin’s governor’s race. Kevin Nicholson, who ran for U.S. Senate and lost in the GOP primary in 2018, has said he would run for governor if Johnson sought re-election.