Sen. Ron Johnson announces re-election campaign despite pledging to only serve two terms

Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson officially announced Sunday morning he will run for re-election and seek a third term in the U.S. Senate, despite at one time promising only to serve two terms.

“I decided to run for the U.S. Senate in 2010 because growing entitlements and out-of-control federal spending had exploded our national debt to $14 trillion,” Johnson wrote in an op-ed published in the Wall Street Journal Sunday. “We were on an unsustainable path that was mortgaging our children’s future.”

Johnson, a Republican from Oshkosh, will face one of a growing list of Democrats who have lined up to attempt to take him on. 

“During the 2016 campaign, I said it would be my last campaign and final term,” Johnson said in the WSJ. “That was my strong preference, and my wife’s—we both looked forward to a normal private life. Neither of us anticipated the Democrats’ complete takeover of government and the disastrous policies they have already inflicted on America and the world, to say nothing of those they threaten to enact in the future.”

Johnson was first elected in 2010.

He has been one of former President Donald Trump‘s most vocal supporters in the Senate.

“It is not a decision I have made lightly,” Johnson wrote. “Having already experienced a growing level of vitriol and false attacks, I certainly don’t expect better treatment in the future. In order for my campaign to succeed, I will need the support of every Wisconsinite who values the truth and refuses to allow lies and distortions to prevail.”

Johnson, 66, has faced criticism for his response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

He most recently questioned why vaccines were needed to treat a virus created by God.

Johnson contracted COVID-19 in October 2020 and is not vaccinated.

“I believe America is in peril. Much as I’d like to ease into a quiet retirement, I don’t feel I should,” Johnson wrote. “Countless people have encouraged me to run, saying they rely on me to be their voice, to speak plain and obvious truths other elected leaders shirk from expressing—truths the elite in government, mainstream media and Big Tech don’t want you to hear.”

Johnson’s potential opponents could include Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes or Bucks executive Alex Lasry, among other candidates.

The race is sure to be one of the most hotly contested in the country next year in purple Wisconsin. 

President Joe Biden won the state by fewer than 21,000 votes in 2020 after a similarly narrow win by Trump in 2016. 

Johnson won by nearly 5 points in 2010, his first race for office, and then by just over 3 points in 2016. 

Both times he defeated Democrat Russ Feingold

Johnson has espoused conspiracy theories related to last year’s Capitol insurrection that attempted to shift blame for what happened away from Trump supporters.

He has since downplayed the violence, saying it “didn’t seem like an armed insurrection to me.”

Just before the U.S. Capitol was stormed a year ago, Johnson objected to counting the Electoral College votes from Arizona. 

Last year, he told Republicans who control the Wisconsin Legislature that they should take over control of federal elections. 

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