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EXCLUSIVE: Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin appears to be making up for lost time.
The two-term Republican senator whom Democrats are targeting as he runs for reelection in November’s midterms raked in $7.1 million in the January-March first quarter of fundraising, according to figures shared first with Fox News on Thursday.
Johnson’s haul is a huge increase from the $711,498 he brought in during the final three months of last year. But that was before Johnson formally declared his candidacy for reelection, which he announced on Jan. 9, ending months of speculation regarding his 2022 intentions.
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The senator brought in his money through his joint fundraising committee with the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), his reelection campaign, and his leadership PAC.
Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisc., takes his seat for the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Europe and Regional Security Cooperation Subcommittee hearing in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2022. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images).
(Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Johnson’s political team highlighted that the senator’s fundraising during the first quarter came from 71,000 total contributions from over 40,000 donors. And showcasing the senator’s grassroots appeal, they noted that 95% of donations were under $200 and that $2.1 million was raised on-line, with the average digital donation of just $38.
“Senator Johnson’s strong fundraising quarter shows broad support for his campaign,” campaign communications director Jake Wilkins touted.
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Johnson, a conservative senator and strong supporter of former President Donald Trump, was first elected in the 2010 Tea Party-fueled red wave, defeating three-term Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold.
As he won reelection by edging Feingold in their 2016 rematch, Johnson vowed to only serve two terms. But last year, with the Democrats controlling the White House and both houses of Congress, the senator said times had changed.
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Johnson stirred controversy last year by questioning COVID-19 vaccines, seemingly downplaying the effects of climate change, and asserting that he never felt threatened by the rioters that stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 as they attempted to disrupt congressional certification of President Biden’s Electoral College victory over Trump. Johnson praised those who attacked the Capitol as people who “love this country.”
Trump endorsed Johnson’s reelection in April of last year, eight months before the senator announced he’d seek another term.
Former President Donald Trump speaks during the ‘Save America’ rally at the Montgomery County Fairgrounds on January 29, 2022 in Conroe, Texas. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
(Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
The Senate contest in Wisconsin – a key battleground state that Biden narrowly carried in the 2020 election – is one of a handful of contests that could ultimately decide which party controls the Senate. Two of top three nonpartisan political handicappers rank the race as “lean Republican,” with the third rating it a toss-up.
The chamber is currently split 50/50 between the two major political parties, but the Democrats hold the majority thanks to the tie-breaking vote of Vice President Kamala Harris through her constitutional role as president of the Senate. That means the GOP needs a net gain of just one seat to reclaim the majority it lost when it was swept in the January 2021 twin Senate runoff contests in Georgia.
Nearly a dozen Democratic candidates are seeking their party’s Senate nomination, including Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, who is the polling front-runner in his party’s primary.
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Johnson is using fundraising resources “to counter the lies and distortions of multiple Democrat candidates, liberal dark money groups, and biased media,” Wilkins argued. “Since Democrats cannot defend the disastrous results of their policies – record gasoline prices, 40-year high inflation, a flood of illegal immigration, rising crime, and a weakened America – they resort to the politics of personal destruction.”
And he emphasized that Johnson “will continue to tell the truth, focus on the issues that concern Wisconsinites, and highlight his record of significant accomplishments.”
