Less than a year away from the midterm elections, where the fate of the Senate majority lies, Democrats and Republicans want Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson (R) to run for reelection.
Democrats want to see the incumbent run for a third term because they see him in a vulnerable position. In contrast, Republicans see him as “a battle-tested incumbent who has twice proven his mettle in a key swing state,” according to a report from the Hill. The Democrats, as it stands currently, have the majority even though the chamber split evenly, 50-50, between the two sides, but the Democrats have Vice President Kamala Harris as a tie-breaker vote when needed.
Johnson, an avid supporter of former President Donald Trump, has made a name for himself when running campaigns. In 2010, he won against then-Sen. Russ Feingold (D), causing a major upset to the three-time incumbent when he ran as a political outsider and won. In 2016, he was again written off when he ran for reelection and won by three points in a rematch against Feingold.
“I think you will find almost every Republican in Wisconsin and outside of Wisconsin wanting Ron Johnson to run because of what’s at stake, and that’s the majority of the Senate for Republicans,” Brandon Scholz, a GOP operative in Wisconsin, told the Hill. “If he doesn’t run, that makes it more difficult.”
A Wisconsin Democrat consultant, Ben Nuckels, said, “If Republicans want to see him run, I’ll agree with them on that.”
Nuckels, wanting a Democrat to win, added, “Johnson is what you get when QAnon and the Tea Party have a baby… His candidacy makes the race far more competitive for Democrats.”
Some Democrats believe Johnson’s past comments on coronavirus could be used against him on the campaign trail. A Wisconsin Democrat strategist, Scot Ross, thinks his comments would play a key role in defining Johnson during the campaign, “It’s unbelievable the things that he says when it comes to denying science and really putting people at serious risk of death.”
However, midterm elections are typically seen as a referendum on the president’s party, of which Johnson is not a part. One Wisconsin GOP operative told the Hill, “Democrats have such a massive amount of misplaced hope here. At this point, Ron Johnson is basically running a heartbreak hotel for the Democrats every six years in Wisconsin.”
A spokesperson for the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), Lizzie Litlow, said the committee is “hopeful and optimistic” he will run again and would be their support behind him.
Johnson has yet to announce if he will run again but reportedly said in December he would decide shortly. Johnson has not stopped fundraising; at the end of September, Johnson had $2.3 million in the bank.
Jacob Bliss is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow him on Twitter.
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