Ron Johnson: ‘I may not be the best candidate’ for 2022 midterms

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) said he may not be the best candidate for the 2022 midterms, ahead of what is expected to be a competitive Senate race in the Badger State. 

“I want to make sure that this U.S. Senate seat is retained in Republican hands,” Johnson told conservative talk show host Lisa Boothe on Wednesday. 

“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,” he continued. 

Johnson went on to describe Washington as “incredibly frustrating,” citing what he was “dysfunction” within the political scene. The senator also revealed that he did not think his time on Capitol Hill has been “particularly successful,” pointing to issues that he campaigned on tackling, including rising debt and abolishing the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. 

The senator has yet to formally announce whether he is running or not. Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.), former Rep. Sean Duffy (R-Wis.), former Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch, and Marine veteran and former Senate candidate Kevin Nicholson have been floated as potential GOP Senate candidates in the case that Johnson does not run. 

Meanwhile, the race is heating up on the Democratic side of the race. Milwaukee Alderwoman Chantia Lewis (D) became the latest Democrat to enter the primary on Wednesday, joining Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes (D), state Treasurer Sarah Godlewski, Milwaukee Bucks executive Alex Lasry and Outagamie County Executive Tom Nelson. 

Wisconsin’s Senate seat could prove to be one of the most consequential of the 2022 midterms, given that Democrats and Republicans hold a 50-50 tie in the Senate with Vice President Kamala Harris serving as a tie-breaking vote. 

The Cook Political Report rates the race as a “toss-up.”