Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson Wins Reelection as Democrat Opponent Concedes

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) is during a Senate Homeland Security Committee in Washington in a file photograph. Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times

Democrat Mandela Barnes conceded the Senate race to Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) as numerous election projections show Johnson prevailing during Tuesday’s midterms.

In a Milwaukee news conference on Wednesday, Barnes said he “fought the good fight” and that “we knew this fight wasn’t gonna be easy. Hardly anything worth fighting for is easy, but I’m standing here today, today ready to jump back in and ready to keep going.”

“The votes are in,” a statement from his campaign also said. “In all Democrat strongholds, municipalities are reporting 100% of wards are in and counted.” The campaign argued that the areas of the state with the highest percentages of outstanding votes are the ones that fell its way.

“There is no path mathematically for Lt. Gov. Barnes to overcome his 27,374 vote deficit. This race is over,” the statement continued.

Republicans portrayed Barnes, the state’s lieutenant governor, as a left-wing extremist who wanted to defund the police and abolish U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

“He has a record of wanting to defund the police,” Johnson during a debate, referring to Barnes. “And I know he doesn’t necessarily say that word, but he has a long history of being supported by people that are leading the effort to defund, who uses code words like (Missouri Democratic Rep.) Cori Bush said, talking about [reallocating] bloated police budgets.”

Wisconsin Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes is seen in Milwaukee, Wis., on Aug. 7, 2022. Scott Olson/Getty Images

Before his concession speech, Fox News, The Associated Press, and CNN all called the race for Johnson.

Alex Henning, a spokesperson for Johnson, told The Hill that Johnson, as a senator, will focus on “exposing the truth regarding our miserably failed response to COVID-19, corruption and politicization of federal law enforcement and our intelligence agencies.” The Republican will also continue his “ongoing investigation into the corruption of Hunter Biden and the Biden family.”

Johnson is the senior Republican on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), another senator who was heavily involved in obtaining information about the Biden family dealings, easily won his reelection campaign on Tuesday evening.

For Senate control, John Fetterman’s success in flipping Pennsylvania’s Republican-controlled Senate seat lifted Democratic hopes of maintaining control of the chamber.

In the House, Democrats kept seats in districts from Virginia to Kansas to Rhode Island, while many in states like New York and California had not been called. But Republicans notched several important victories in their bid to flip the five seats needed to reclaim the House majority. In a particularly symbolic victory, the GOP toppled House Democratic campaign chief Sean Patrick Maloney of New York.

The race for control of Congress will determine the future of Biden’s agenda and serve as a referendum on his administration as the nation reels from record-high inflation and concerns over the direction of the country. A Republican House majority would likely trigger a spate of investigations, while a GOP Senate takeover would hobble the president’s ability to make judicial appointments.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.