Potato pranksters sought to target Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., in recent weeks, mailing roughly 2,000 spuds to his Milwaukee office with the goal of catching staff on camera receiving one of the shipments.
After sporadically sending several smaller deliveries, the makers of the popular game Cards Against Humanity sent one large shipment of 1,857 potatoes to Johnson’s office last week, hoping to alert the media early this week when the delivery truck arrived to catch staff on camera accepting the shipment.
Attached to each potato, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, was a sticker that read “Hold a town hall.”
Unfortunately for these would-be pranksters, someone in Johnson’s office picked up the mail on Saturday, skirting their extensive efforts to create bad publicity for the senator.
Johnson, for his part, went one step further and donated the potatoes to local food banks through Milwaukee’s Greater Praise Church of God in Christ, the Journal Sentinel reported.
“My suggestion was, rather than spending $5 on a 37 cent potato, donate that $5 to a food pantry. A far better use of your money,” Johnson said on Monday, referring to the company’s initiative that asked people to sponsor each spud for $5.
Given those numbers, Johnson deftly managed to turn a $10,000 prank attempt organized by his opponents into a boon for local charities.
“Senator Johnson continues to travel the state extensively to talk with Wisconsinites about their concerns, and we’re happy to work with local food pantries to ensure all potatoes go to help those in need,” Johnson’s spokesman, Ben Voelkel, told the Journal Sentinel.
A Morning Consult poll released Tuesday found Johnson outperforming his Democratic counterpart in the Senate with a 48 percent approval rating to Tammy Baldwin’s 44 percent.
Emily Jashinsky is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
