Sen. Ron Johnson announced for a third term in Wisconsin and immediately hit the airwaves with television advertisements claiming the Democrats forced him to abandon his two-term pledge.
The 66-year-old Republican is on the air with two slightly different advertisements, one focused on domestic issues, the other on foreign policy matters.
In the spots, Johnson argues the United States is in trouble at home and abroad because of decisions made by President Joe Biden and Democratic leaders in Congress and declares he could not “just walk away” from his responsibility to fight back and make the nation “safer and stronger.”
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“It feels like our country is being torn apart. That’s not how it felt in 2016. Back then, I intended to serve a second term and go home,” Johnson says in both ads, looking straight to the camera. “But now, with the Democrats in total control, our nation’s on a very dangerous path. If you were in a position to make our country safer and stronger, would you just walk away? I’ve decided I can’t.”
Johnson revealed Sunday he would run for reelection in 2022 after spending nearly all of the previous year mulling whether to retire after two terms, as he once vowed to do, or seek another six years in the Senate. The senator’s Republican colleagues had encouraged Johnson to run, preferring to avoid a potentially divisive primary in Wisconsin, a swing state where he has demonstrated political strength and resiliency.
In 2010, a Republican wave year, Johnson, then a first-time candidate, ousted Democratic incumbent Russ Feingold in what was considered a major upset.
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Six years later, Johnson outperformed Donald Trump on the ballot because he performed better with suburban voters than the future president.
In 2016, Trump won Wisconsin, garnering 1.4 million votes, equal to 47.2% of those cast. Johnson received 1.5 million votes, equal to 50.2% of those cast, blunting Feingold’s effort at a Senate comeback.
