Republican Sen. Ron Johnson will win reelection in Wisconsin, fending off a serious challenge from Democratic Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, ABC News projects.
With 94% of the vote reporting on Wednesday morning, Johnson had 51% of the vote, followed by Barnes with 49%.
Johnson was viewed by race observers and assessments like FiveThirtyEight as one of the most vulnerable GOP lawmakers on the ballot this cycle after the battleground state flipped for Joe Biden in 2020.
“Truth has prevailed over lies and the politics of personal destruction,” he said in a statement on Wednesday morning. “I want to thank my family and everyone who supported me and worked so hard to save this U.S. Senate seat. I will do everything I can to help make things better for Wisconsinites and to heal and unify our country.”
The Republican senator was first elected in 2010 and is serving his second term in Congress, sitting on committees including foreign relations. Barnes is the first Black lieutenant governor in Wisconsin and would have been the state’s first Black U.S. senator had he won.
Johnson, like others in his party, focused heavily on crime and the economy while on the campaign trail, pushing to label Barnes as a far-left politician who was soft on public safety and wanted to “abolish” some federal law enforcement, charges which Barnes denied.
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