Five takeaways from the final Barnes-Johnson debate in Wisconsin

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) and his Democratic challenger Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes on Thursday faced off in their second and final televised debate, an hourlong discussion that featured lively back-and-forths between the two men.

The two Senate candidates took jabs at each other over their personal records and work and painted each other as out of touch with Wisconsin voters — exchanges that often prompted both cheers and boos from the Marquette University audience. 

The Wisconsin Senate election is one of a handful of battleground races that will determine whether Republicans regain control of the Senate next year. Johnson has long been considered one of the most vulnerable Senate Republicans, but in recent weeks polls have showed him ahead of Barnes.

Here are five takeaways from the final Wisconsin Senate debate:

Attacks get personal

Neither candidate held back on Thursday and at times the attacks got personal.

Barnes accused Johnson of lining his own pockets in office. Johnson called Barnes “a performer.”

Johnson said Barnes “never signed the front of a paycheck. He doesn’t have a clue how to create jobs, he certainly doesn’t have a clue how the economy works and how you run a business.” 

Barnes shot back that “Senator Johnson has taken a whole lot of credit for his business-in-law,” a reference to the plastics company Pacur that was started by the senator and his brother-in-law.

“The biggest achievement in business was Ron Johnson saying ‘I do.’ He married into his business. He didn’t start that from the ground up,” the state lieutenant governor said.

In the closing question of the night, the moderators asked both candidates to say something positive about their opponent. Barnes said he admired Johnson as a “family man.”

Johnson complimented Barnes’s upbringing before saying, “I guess what puzzles me about that is with that upbringing, why has he turned against America?” as the crowd booed.

Candidates try to paint each other as out of touch

Both candidates worked to portray themselves as the one who understood the struggles of Wisconsin’s workers while painting the other as out of touch.

“I fully understand how high the cost of gas is because I fill up my own gas tank. I drive myself around the state, unlike Lt. Gov. Barnes, who is chauffeured around by State Patrol, costing taxpayers over $600,000 through last November. He used them 13-and-a-half hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. That’s not only excessive, that’s abusive [of] the taxpayer money,” Johnson said.

Barnes suggested that Johnson held a double standard, pointing to the senator’s own travel in and out of Florida. 

“He fails to mention that taxpayers had to foot the bill for his private plane trips between D.C. and his $3 million mansion in Florida,” Barnes said. 

Johnson leans into inflation on heels of Labor Dept data

The Wisconsin Republican leaned into the issue of rising prices on the heels of Labor Department data released Thursday that showed inflation increasing for the second month in a row and remaining at a four-decade high.

Republicans believe the economy and inflation will weigh most heavily on voters’ minds and on Thursday Johnson turned to the issue when pressed about past statements on social security. 

“I want to save Social Security. I want to save Medicare. The greatest threat to any government program is the massive, out-of-control deficit spending and our growing debt,” Johnson said during the debate.

“The first table stakes is stop inflation. You have to do that first and then grow our economy,” he added later. “The number one component with solution to all these problems is growing our economy. Under Biden, we just had two quarters of negative growth because they don’t have a clue how to run an economy, and they are continuing to deficit spend.”

National issues of abortion, crime take center stage

Much of the debate focused on national issues like abortion, which Democrats believe will help propel them to victory in November, and crime, which Republicans have been using as a cudgel against their opponents this year. 

Johnson suggested that Barnes held extreme positions on the issue of abortion, alleging that the Democrat saw no limitations on the medical procedure.

“The extreme position when it comes to abortion is the one that the lieutenant governor holds, which would allow abortions up to the moment of birth. Think of that. That is not where Wisconsinites are,” the senator said.

Barnes on the other hand suggested that in “Ron Johnson’s America, women don’t get to make the best choices for their health” and targeted the senator over sponsoring federal legislation restricting abortions.

Johnson also tried to put Barnes on defense on the issue of crime, saying that his opponent supported defunding law enforcement and was to blame for riots in Wisconsin. Barnes suggested the senator was a hypocrite, pointing to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.

“140 officers injured, one crushed in a revolving door. Another hit in the head with a fire extinguisher,” Barnes said, later adding “So this talk about support for law enforcement. It’s not real. It’s not true.” 

Biden figures prominently, Trump conspicuously absent from debate

President Biden figured prominently in the debate, with Johnson casting himself as a foil to the commander in chief, arguing that the president had made the southern border porous, had an administration responsible for negative economic growth and had contributed to overspending within the federal government.

At the same time, former President Trump was mentioned only very briefly, despite the debate coming just hours after the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot held their latest hearing on Thursday and voted to subpoena the former president. 

Barnes has sought to tie Johnson to the Capitol riot during the debates, an issue that has put the senator on defense, especially given that the House select panel provided evidence earlier this year indicating that a staff member of Johnson’s office wanted to provide a slate of fake electors to former Vice President Mike Pence’s office. The senator has denied any involvement in those efforts.