Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) said on Wednesday that he might not be the best candidate to hold on to the seat in the United States Senate for Republicans in the 2022 midterms.
“I want to make sure that this U.S. Senate seat is retained in Republican hands,” Johnson told conservative commentator Lisa Boothe. “You see what the media’s doing to me. I may not be the best candidate. I wouldn’t run if I don’t think I could win, if I don’t think I was the best person to be able to win.”
“This is an incredibly frustrating place here,” Johnson said. “Having come from the private sector, running a successful business. Being able to accomplish things. When you just see the dysfunction that is Washington D.C., it can be pretty frustrating.”
Johnson also admitted that his time in Washington was not successful.
“I feel really bad that I’ve been here now probably 11 years and we’ve doubled the debt, Obamacare’s still in place, and we’ve doubled the debt. I don’t feel like my time here has been particularly successful,” he said.
Johnson has not formally announce if he will be seeking re-election next year or not despite raising $1.2 million in the second quarter of this year.
Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.), former U.S. Senate candidate Kevin Nicholson, and former House Rep. Sean Duffy (R-Wis) are all considered to be potential candidates if Johnson decides not to seek re-election .
Milwaukee Alderwoman Chantia Lewis (D), Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes (D), state Treasurer Sarah Godlewski, Milwaukee Bucks executive Alex Lasry and Outagamie County Executive Tom Nelson, are all lining up on the Democratic side to challenge for the seat.
Johnson said he ran for re-election in 2010 on issues such as the national debt and repealing former President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act. But, now the senator seems more interested in helping Donald Trump spread the big lie and bizarre conspiracy theories about Jan. 6 and COVID vaccines.
“We, like many Wisconsinites, agree with Ron Johnson that his 12 years in the Senate has not been successful for Wisconsin,” Democratic Party of Wisconsin spokesperson Philip Shulman said in a statement to the Wisconsin State Journal. “Johnson’s self-serving agenda attempted to strip protections for pre-existing conditions from Wisconsinites, encouraged people not to get vaccinated against COVID-19, and sowed dysfunction in DC.”
