The Milwaukee Police Association (MPA) on Thursday endorsed Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) for U.S. Senate against “defund the police” candidate Mandela Barnes.

“Today we are proud to endorse Ron Johnson for U.S. Senate,” MPA President Andrew Wagner told reporters. “Over the past several years, we have seen the homicide rate double in Milwaukee. And now we are on track to see even more homicides in the city than we have ever seen before.”

Johnson thanked Wagner for the endorsement of the association, which represents over 1,400 men and women in local law enforcement. “It’s an unfortunately loud and destructive minority that are calling for defunding [of police],” Johnson said on the call with reporters. “I understand how difficult it is finding, recruiting new police officers because of the defund movement.”

Speaking about the Kenosha, Wisconsin, riots in 2020, Johnson accused Barnes of inciting the violence as lieutenant governor. “My opponent, during the Kenosha riots, claimed what he saw and happened was a vendetta on the part of the police against Jacob Blake. That type of rhetoric, those type of actions … is so dispiriting to law enforcement,” Johnson said.

A protester walks past a building with broken windows as others burn during protests, Monday, August. 24, 2020, in Kenosha, Wisconsine. (Morry Gash/AP)

The MPA is not the only law enforcement group to endorse Johnson’s reelection. The Kenosha Police Association has also endorsed Johnson, along with 51 Wisconsin sheriffs.

Johnson credited his law enforcement endorsements to his pro-law enforcement stance, because “you’ve got elected officials saying the police are carrying out vendettas against the public.”

Johnson’s radical opponent, the Lt. Gov. of Wisconsin, stated in 2020 that the Kenosha riots were in response to what he dubbed a police “vendetta” against residents. “Let me be clear, this was not an accident,” Barnes claimed. “This wasn’t bad police work. This felt like some sort of vendetta being taken out on a member of our community.”

Barnes is one of the most radical Democrats in the 2022 cycle. He believes in defunding police departments and stated the police do not prevent crimes. Barnes has also pushed for abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and ending cash bail.

“Police don’t prevent crimes from happening,” Barnes falsely stated on Real Talk with Henry Sanders. “We don’t live in a surveillance state, nor would you want to.”

Mandela Barnes participates in a televised Wisconsin Democratic U.S. Senate debate, Sunday, July 17, 2022, in Milwaukee. (Morry Gash/AP)

Barnes does, however, believe in spending a large amount of taxpayer money to protect himself. He “averaged more than 13½ hours of security protection a day — including weekdays, weekends and holidays — at a daily cost to the state of $660 for patrol officers’ wages. That’s more than 10 times the number of hours as his predecessor,” according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Wisconsin’s Joint Legislative Audit Committee has launched a probe into Barnes for excessive security costs billed to the state.

Barnes’ reported high security expenses came to light before his campaign falsely claimed that two sheriffs had endorsed the radical Democrat. After the false endorsements were rolled out, both sheriffs refuted Barnes’ claims that they had endorsed him.

Recent polling shows Johnson has surged past his opponent in the polls, leading by four points. Barnes had been leading Johnson by a moderate margin, but Barnes’s radical record seems to be hurting his election chances.

Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter @WendellHusebø. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality.