Sen. Ron Johnson defeated his Democratic opponent and held his Senate seat, and at the same time nearly shut the door on the chances Democrats have of retaking the Senate.
Johnson’s race against former Sen. Russ Feingold was called at around 11 p.m., and his victory means Democrats need to pull out a series of races where they currently trail in order to recapture the Senate.
The most likely way for Democrats to win back the upper chamber now is to win in New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Missouri, which would give them 50 seats and control if Hillary Clinton were elected president. But Democrats were trailing in all those races, as was Clinton.
Johnson began the cycle as the upper chamber’s most vulnerable incumbent and consistently trailed Feingold, the three-term Democrat he unseated in a 2010 upset. But as voters began focusing on the election in earnest, Johnson, with the help of a massive influx of outside spending, narrowed the gap to 1 point — a statistical tie — in the last Marquette University Law School poll before Election Day.
The indicators were there as Johnson polled well ahead of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump from the moment he clinched the nomination. And Marquette pollster Charles Franklin warned all along that he expected the race to end up neck-and-neck.
At least 45 outside organizations poured money into Wisconsin to boost Johnson; 16 spent at least $100,000, according to Fox News. With at least $21.5 million raised, Feingold was Democrats’ top Senate candidate fundraiser this cycle, according to Map Light, a watchdog group that tracks political fundraising and spending.
Johnson also benefited from his post as chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. He pummeled Feingold for his lone dissenting vote against the USA Patriot Act and votes against renewing a 2004 intelligence law’s “lone-wolf” provision during his 18 years in the Senate.
Johnson also scored points against Feingold by trying to turn his “Mr. Clean” image on its head. Johnson accused Feingold of abandoning his campaign finance reform principles and using a political action committee dedicated to supporting progressive candidates as a “slush fund” designed to warehouse his own campaign apparatus.
Brandon Scholz, a Wisconsin-based lobbyist, said Feingold was unable to tap into the “magic” of his earlier campaigns. In 1992 and 1998, “you couldn’t even touch him,” Scholz said.
Celebrities such as Robert Redford, comedian Sarah Silverman and “West Wing” actor Bradley Whitford penned emails and fundraising solicitations for Feingold. Liberal darlings Sens. Al Franken, D-Minn., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Vice President Joe Biden stumped for him as well while in the campaign’s closing days, Johnson campaigned with House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, home state Gov. Scott Walker and Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner.
Republicans claimed for months that their state party’s turnout operation, honed during Walker’s three gubernatorial races in four years, would get Johnson across the finish line.
Johnson also upped his game, Scholz said.
“Johnson has worked his butt off,” Scholz said. “He has worked harder than I think anybody thought he was capable of.”
