Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Ron Johnson, R-Wis., refused on Tuesday to follow his governor’s lead and endorse Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, for the GOP presidential nomination on Tuesday.
Johnson is in tough grudge match with former Sen. Russ Feingold, whom he knocked out of the Senate in 2010.
Gov. Scott Walker, who was one of the first big-name Republicans to drop out of the race last year, endorsed Cruz on Tuesday in the lead up to the Wisconsin’s presidential primary next week.
Johnson acknowledged that he has concerns about backing front-runner Donald Trump given that associating with the controversial real estate mogul could hurt him in left-leaning Wisconsin.
“Well, if anything, sometimes the endorsements backfire,” Johnson told Fox News before Walker’s announcement. “So, you know, for my own part, I intend to be neutral. I’m not going to be doing any endorsement. I intend to support the Republican nominee.”
The first-term lawmaker said he intends to stay neutral up until the party’s convention, but conceded that could change.
“We’ll see how this process plays out; nobody can predict it,” he said.
The former plastics manufacturer also implored Trump, Cruz and former Ohio Gov. John Kasich to clean up their acts.
“I always like to accentuate the positive,” he said. “I really wish candidates would concentrate on … having a positive message, one of economic prosperity and opportunity, and really, I like Ronald Reagan’s 11th Commandment, you know, ‘Speak no ill of fellow Republicans.'”
“Show the Republican primary voters how you intend to beat Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, I think would be the most effective way to run a campaign in the primary,” he said.
When pressed on staying out of the fray, Johnson indicated that he may take issue with some of the Republican candidates.
“Again, I go to bed every night praying for a person of integrity, intelligence, ideas and courage,” Johnson said. “And we’ll see how it plays out.”
