MADISON, Delete. (AP) – After President Donald Trump lost his reelection, most Senate Republicans, his Justice Department and the courts have rejected or disputed his baseless claims about a “stolen election.” Not Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson.
The GOP senator used his chairmanship of the Senate Homeland Security Committee to highlight Trump’s allegations, claiming that millions of Americans have “real, legitimate suspicions that this election was stolen” and worried about “so many irregularities here” .
That kind of allegiance to Trump has endeared Johnson to the far-right base in his state, but it could be costly if he decides to seek a third term in 2022. While Johnson contemplates whether he will flee again, his embrace of Trump’s anti-democratic The campaign to undo the election results has already angered some mainstream Republican allies, and is poised to motivate the Democrats who have driven opposition to Trump into new power. the state.
Observers note that Johnson, who rose from the tea party movement more than a decade ago, has often behaved like a senator from a solid red state. But the November election showed that Wisconsin, which Democrat Joe Biden won by less than 21,000 votes, is anything but. The battle for his place will be one of the most competitive races next year.
“I think if the election were a week from now, he would be in a world of pain,” said Rohn Bishop, chairman of the Fond du Lac County Republican Party. Bishop criticized fellow Republicans like Johnson for faking allegations of illegal election activity, even though he remains a supporter of Johnson. But he notes that Johnson is at risk of losing moderate voters who are critical to winning.
“It could hurt him with suburban voters. … The elections have not been stolen, and it is difficult to convince people to vote for you when you try to throw away their legally cast ballots. “
Johnson has long been in line with Trump’s harsh policies and politics. He led the pressure to investigate Biden’s son Hunter and rarely broke with the White House. Still, some Republicans were surprised to see the senator giving credence to Trump’s post-election plans, including an attempt to throw out the ballots of 238,000 voters in majority Democratic areas of Milwaukee and Madison.
Johnson’s December 16 hearing to investigate baseless complaints of election fraud largely perpetuated Trump’s baseless claims. And on January 6, just before the Capitol was stormedJohnson objected to the vote count of the Arizona Electoral College.
The editor of the conservative website Right Wisconsin published a scathing column hours before the riot, saying Johnson was on a “reckless path” in questioning the integrity of the election and that he should retire and should if he flee again.
After the riot, Johnson did not vote against objection. Still, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Wisconsin’s largest newspaper, called on Johnson to resign for “stirring up an uprising.”
Johnson responded with a column in the paper calling the editorial “out of control and uninformed.” The Journal Sentinel took the rare step of annotating its response by providing 19 footnotes with additional context, fact-checking, and corrections.
The Wisconsin State Journal, the state’s second-largest newspaper, has also called for Johnson’s resignation, and the anti-Trump Republicans behind The Lincoln Project have attacked Johnson for the defeat, citing his support for electoral plot theories and compared him to disgraced former Wisconsin USA. Senator Joe McCarthy.
Johnson remains popular with the GOP grassroots, a key factor when considering whether to run again, said GOP strategist Brian Reisinger, who worked on Johnson’s 2016 campaign. He noted that Johnson has been able to overcome opponents who didn’t give him much of a chance to win, first against then-US Senator Russ Feingold in 2010 and again in a rematch in 2016.
“There are a lot of people who look at Ron Johnson, and they see the political endurance he’s had over the years, despite being a dead man twice before,” Reisinger said.
Johnson pledged not to seek a third term in 2016, but withdrew three years later, saying he wanted to see how the 2020 elections turn out. He has also said he is considering running for governor in 2022.
Johnson, 65, has said in recent weeks that he hasn’t made a decision yet.
“My preference has always been to serve two terms and go home,” Johnson told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel last month before Democrats won a few second elections in Georgia to take over the majority of the senate. “That remains my preference, but at the same time the Senate is a kind of firewall against total control by Democrats, which I think would be a very bad thing for this country.”
Johnson and his spokesman Ben Voelkel declined to comment on his plans.
Republicans already have three vacancies in the Senate to defend. Richard Burr of North Carolina, Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania and Rob Portman of Ohio have said they will no longer flee in 2022. GOP Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa, who will turn 89 in 2022, is also on the ballot, and Missouri two-term Republican Roy Blunt has not said whether he will seek a third.
When Johnson retires, it would likely be free on both sides.
A number of Republicans look forward to a run-up to the Senate or the governor, depending on what Johnson does. Potential candidates for the Republican Senate include US Representative Mike Gallagher, former US Representative Sean Duffy, and Kevin Nicholson, who lost a Republican Senate primary in 2018.
The Democratic Hopeful list includes Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes, the state’s first black lieutenant governor, Treasurer Sarah Godlewski and Senator Chris Larson from Milwaukee.
Alex Lasry, the senior vice president of the Milwaukee Bucks who spearheaded the successful bid to get the 2020 Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee before the coronavirus sent the event almost entirely online, is also considering a run. Lasry is the son of billionaire hedge fund manager and Democratic bundler Marc Lasry and could potentially self-fund his run.
Another potential candidate is Steven Olikara, founder and CEO of the non-profit Millennial Action Project. Outagamie County Executive Tom Nelson has already applied.