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Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson has been declared the winner in Wisconsin and will serve a third term in the battleground state after defeating Democrat Mandela Barnes.
Decision Desk made the projection at 2:23 a.m. EST on the race, which was very expensive as Democrats went all-in to flip the seat.
“According to OpenSecrets, Johnson has raised $31.5 million, spent $28 million, and has $3.5 million in cash on hand, as of October 19. Barnes has raised nearly $34.6 million, spent $32 million, and has almost $2.6 million in the bank, as of October 19. Through late October, super PACs, politically active nonprofit organizations, and other non-candidate groups have meanwhile combined to spend an additional $112.9 million advocating for or against the candidates,” Business Insider reported.
“On the presidential level, Wisconsin has voted for the Democratic nominee in every election from 1988 to 2020 except for 2016, when Trump narrowly defeated former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the Badger State. In 2020, now-President Joe Biden won Wisconsin — by roughly 20,000 votes out of nearly 3.3 million ballots cast,” the report added.
Decision Desk HQ projects Sen. Ron Johnson (R) wins re-election to the U.S. Senate in Wisconsin.#DecisionMade: 2:23am EST
Follow more results here: https://t.co/5VrcT896c7 pic.twitter.com/Smdgc1ePRV
— Decision Desk HQ (@DecisionDeskHQ) November 9, 2022
Projection:
Incumbent Republican Senator Ron Johnson is the Projected Winner in the Wisconsin Senate Election. He will defeat Democrat Mandela Barnes.GOP Hold#Election2022 #ElectionDay #WISen pic.twitter.com/hxosmcioVd
— The Election Center (@ElectionCenter_) November 9, 2022
If Republicans take back the Senate, Johnson said that they “need to stop the Biden agenda that is destroying our country, and do anything [we] possibly can as a legislature to end his destructive agenda.”
“I have the worst opponent, which is the mainstream media. Incredibly biased coverage, they are carrying the lies and distortions of the Democrats for them, creating headlines that can be used against me in the future,” he said.
“Even though he has not yet announced that he is running, and I certainly hope he does, I am giving my Complete and Total Endorsement to Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin,” Donald Trump said in a statement released by his political action committee.
“He is brave, he is bold, he loves our Country, our Military, and our Vets. He will protect our Second Amendment, and everything else we stand for. It is the kind of courage we need in the U.S. Senate. He has no idea how popular he is. Run, Ron, Run!” Trump added.
Johnson recently made headlines when he sent a letter to the Department of Labor on federal unemployment spending.
“Since March 2020, the federal government has authorized a vast increase in federal funds for unemployment benefits that are managed by state unemployment agencies. As states across the country debate whether to continue receiving these additional funds, we write to raise our urgent concern with the impact these additional benefits have had on fraud in state unemployment programs. Amidst the increased flow of federal dollars, your office has consistently warned states and highlighted instances of increased fraud that will likely reach into the hundreds of billions of dollars.1 A recent article highlights the online criminal ecosystem that has emerged to coach bad actors on how to better defraud state unemployment systems.2 This is a trend we do not want to see continue,” Johnson wrote.
“In May, we urged Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers to end the additional benefits provided through the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation program to get Wisconsinites back to work. In June, we sent a letter asking Governor Evers what efforts he had taken to steward increased federal dollars. We have not received a response to either of these letters. Finally, the governor has vetoed legislation ending these benefits and the Wisconsin Legislature was unable to override this veto,” he added.
Johnson continued: “Unfortunately, we have not received any information from Wisconsin officials on how they plan to protect these federal dollars that will almost certainly continue to flow to Wisconsin until they expire on September 6, 2021. So, we ask you to review this program in Wisconsin and other states across the country to determine the extent of any waste, fraud, and abuse. After more than a year of unprecedented federal spending, it is time we begin a full accounting of where federal funds have gone. Thank you in advance for your efforts to ensure taxpayer dollars are not wasted or lost to those committing fraud on the system.”
