Sen. Ron Johnson: 'Political pros' say he'd likely keep the Wisconsin seat in GOP hands
U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson hasn't made a decision on running for reelection next year but said "the political pros" in his party are telling him he has the best chance to retain the seat for Republicans.
During a wide-ranging, hour-long interview Friday with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel before a GOP event at American Serb Hall in Milwaukee, Johnson expressed fear over the country's direction under Democrats, defended his record and revealed that even though he has not been vaccinated against COVID-19, around half his family has gotten the shot.
The Oshkosh Republican has kept the political world guessing about his future plans as a large field of Democrats is eager to take him on next fall.
Johnson, who in 2016 made a commitment to only serving two terms, was asked how he would explain breaking a campaign pledge if he takes the plunge and runs for a third term.
"Because I never anticipated the importance of continuing to uncover the corruption," Johnson said. "But also just this moment, right here, this is crucial that Republicans retain this Senate seat and I think just about everybody I talk to says I probably have the best chance of doing that. And that puts a fair amount of pressure on me to do that. No, I mean, look, when I made that pledge, when my wife (Jane) and I made that pledge, that was our very strong preference."
Asked directly if he believed he was best positioned to retain the seat, a crucial battleground with the Senate now split 50-50 among Democrats and Republicans, Johnson said: "Oh, it's not just me, I think just about everybody I talk to. I mean the political pros believe that."
Democrats eager to challenge Johnson
At the same time that Johnson and some strategists in his own party believe he would be the candidate most likely to keep the seat in Republican hands, Democrats are eager to take him on. They see Johnson as a polarizing figure who would drive Democrats to the polls, while also turning off some independent voters.
"I think Ron Johnson by constantly choosing his own political interests over Wisconsinites' has put the GOP in a lose-lose position," said Ben Wikler, chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. "Either Johnson runs as a toxic and weakened candidate or he walks off the field after freezing it until very late in the game and another candidate has to try and jump into the wasteland he has created ..."
In any event, Wikler said, the Republicans will be running "against a strong, broad and deep field of Democrats who are making an affirmative case for putting a Democrat into the seat."
Privately, there is some disagreement among Republican strategists about whether Johnson would give his party the best chance to keep the seat. If Johnson were to forgo another run, plenty of potential Republican runners are waiting in the wings, including businessmen Kevin Nicholson and Eric Hovde, and U.S. Rep. Mike Gallagher.
Johnson said he is weighing a number of factors about running again, may reach a decision in a "relatively short time frame" but "can't predict when I have gone through the entire process."
Even though he has no campaign staff on payroll, according to his most recent campaign filings, Johnson said "a race like this" won't be difficult to staff.
Asked if he could beat the candidate that emerges from the Democratic primary, Johnson said: "I think, yes, because I think Democrats are beating themselves right now. I think America collectively their jaws are dropping on what they're witnessing with Democratic governance."
Johnson said the reaction against Democrats is even "stronger" than it was in 2009 and 2010. Back then, a tea party wave built against Democrats, who suffered large losses in the 2010 midterms and lost control in the House of Representatives. Johnson was among those Republicans to ride the wave, as he defeated then-U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold.
"I ran in 2010 because I was panicked for this nation," he said. "I'm more panicked and people I talk to are way more panicked."
More: Meet the 12 Democrats already running for Ron Johnson's seat in Wisconsin's 2022 Senate race
Over the last year, Johnson has faced criticism over a range of issues and has taken hits in the media. The New York Times called him "an all-access purveyor of misinformation on serious issues such as the pandemic and the legitimacy of American democracy ..." The editorial board of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Paste BN-Network Wisconsin have run several critical editorials, including calling for his ouster.
Johnson said the mainstream media is "horribly biased toward the left."
Johnson has argued the storming of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 was not an armed insurrection, and was pilloried for saying that Donald Trump's supporters who were at the Capitol didn't worry him but that he might have been concerned if they had been supporters of the Black Lives Matter movement.
More: Ron Johnson places 'hold' on Biden nominee to oversee prosecutions related to Jan. 6 insurrection
State Sen. LaTonya Johnson, a Democrat from Milwaukee who is Black, characterized the senator's comment on Black Lives Matter as "racist."
"The racist charge bugged me," the Republican senator responded, "because it's just one of those pejoratives that's just ugly and couldn't be further from the truth."
'I'm not a bomb thrower'
Johnson is also irked by the notion that he is a "polarizing figure."
"I'm not a bomb thrower, I don't think I'm bombastic," he said. "I tell the truth. I'm passionate about my love for this country and what a marvel it is and I think it's on a wrong path, a really dangerous path and we're hurtling toward that. ... Yeah, I am going to be that William F. Buckley conservative standing athwart history yelling stop."
Johnson has also faced pushback for comments related to COVID-19, his promotion of early treatments to deal with the virus and raising questions about the COVID-19 vaccine.
He was suspended from YouTube after the company said he violated the website's COVID-19 "medical misinformation policies."
Johnson has criticized health officials as biased against COVID remedies like ivermectin. Health experts have said it is unproven for COVID treatment and can be dangerous in large doses.
Johnson said his sister and brother-in-law, who both came down with COVID, used ivermectin as part of a "multidrug protocol." He said they were treated successfully. And he added that he will "absolutely be proven correct" on use of early treatments.
Asked if others in his family have been vaccinated, Johnson, who tested positive for COVID-19 last year, said "it's about half and half. And they're all struggling with it. I'm not anti-vax. I've got every other vaccine."
Johnson fiercely opposes the imposition of vaccine mandates, a step supporters say is critical to stamping out the pandemic.
"I'm just trying to raise awareness of how disastrous and how quite honestly idiotic these mandates are," he said. "There's just no rationale for them."
If he gets into the race for a third term, Johnson sounded eager to run on his record while also launching into the Democrats and Biden administration on issues that include running up the debt, failing to secure the southern border with Mexico and a "humiliating surrender in Afghanistan."
"Definitely a check," he said of trying to stop the Democrats and their policies. "A break on this madness."