Ron Johnson vows to 'heal and unify our country' after he defeats Mandela Barnes to earn a third term in the U.S. Senate

Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, who once vowed to serve only two terms, just pulled off an electoral three-peat.

Johnson declared Wednesday morning that "the race is over" as he narrowly defeated Democratic challenger, Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes in a hotly contested race that could help determine which party controls the U.S. Senate.

Entering the election cycle as one of the most vulnerable Republicans, Johnson once again confounded critics, overcame skeptics and pulled out a victory in a state President Joe Biden narrowly won just two years ago.

In quick succession, after Johnson issued a statement claiming that the "corporate media" was "refusing to call a race that is over," NBC News, ABC News and CNN projected Johnson as the winner, followed by the Associated Press. With 98.91% of the vote in, Johnson had 50.5% of the vote to 49.5% for Barnes, a difference of about 27,000 votes.

During a noon news conference at Sherman Phoenix in Milwaukee, Barnes acknowledged the defeat and said he had called Johnson.

"Unfortunately, we didn’t get over the finish line this time," Barnes said. "I know this movement has meant so much to all of us. But just because we didn’t get across the finish line that doesn’t mean that it’s over."

Barnes added, "I've fought the good fight. I've run my race. I've kept the faith."

The drawn-out, dramatic ending matched the swirling passions of the race.

"There is no path mathematically for Lt. Gov. Barnes to overcome his 27,374 vote deficit. This race is over," Johnson said in the statement before Barnes conceded.

"Truth has prevailed over lies and the politics of personal destruction. 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."

Later, in an interview with WISN-AM radio, Johnson criticized the news media and chided Barnes for not offering a quicker concession.

"I don’t know how bad it can get before people who vote for these Democrat officials and Democrat policies are going to wake up and realize this is not good for America," Johnson said.

He added that he was surprised that the race was "this close."

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The road to Election Day was dramatic, leading to a clash between the conservative 67-year-old Johnson from Oshkosh and the liberal 35-year-old Barnes from Milwaukee.

It began with Johnson publicly weighing for months whether to make the race, a move that would in effect see him breaking a pledge he had made back in 2016 to serve only two terms. Johnson, who often refers to himself as a "citizen legislator," had emerged from the Tea Party movement and twice defeated Democrat Russ Feingold, in 2010 and 2016.

But the landscape Johnson was operating in had changed dramatically over the course of the past several years. Republicans were swept from state offices in 2018, meaning Johnson had become the titular head of the party. Former President Donald Trump's loss in 2020 further cemented Johnson's status as a state party leader and also stoked his determination to oppose Biden's policy agenda.

In January 2022, Johnson made his move, joining the race as he explained: "I believe America is in peril. Much as I'd like to ease into a quiet retirement, I don't feel I should."

Even as Democrats faced stiff political headwinds of their own, so did Johnson. as he became a lightning rod on key national issues, from the election to the insurrection to promoting early, unproven treatments for COVID-19. Even before they had their candidate, Democrats and their allies pounded Johnson in ads, claiming he was out for himself and his large donors, charges he denied.

Mandela Barnes emerged as favorite from a large group of Democrats in primary

Democrats were eager to take Johnson on and a large primary field assembled, including Barnes, state Treasurer Sarah Godlewski, Milwaukee Bucks executive Alex Lasry and Outagamie County Executive Tom Nelson.

From the start, Barnes was the front-runner. He was running on his biography as the son of a third-shift auto worker and public school teacher, who understood the problems of the middle class and sought to restore manufacturing in the state.

Barnes was popular with the Democratic base and for months no one could dent his lead, even though Lasry got the closest.

Yet in the closing weeks of the primary race, internal polls broke decisively Barnes' way, and one by one his main rivals dropped out, giving him the nomination.

As he entered the general election, Barnes had strengths with Democrats as well as independents. But many voters — 4 in 10 according to a Marquette poll — did not have an opinion about him and Republicans were eager to fill out a damaging portrait.

In a relentless ad barrage following the primary, Republicans sought to tie Barnes to public concerns over crime. They zeroed in on his support for cashless bail and accused him of being part of the defund police movement, a charge Barnes denied. Some of Barnes' Democratic allies called the ads racist.

Ron Johnson, Mandela Barnes got personal in verbal attacks during debate, speeches

After months of sparring at a distance, and a lackluster first debate, the race caught fire in a second debate in mid-October. The candidates clashed on the issues, particularly Social Security and Medicare where Barnes attacked Johnson for wanting to make the programs subject to annual budget deliberations, while Johnson proclaimed he wanted to save them.

They also threw verbal blows at one another, Johnson accusing Barnes of being an actor ... "falsehoods seem to roll off his tongue." Barnes jabbed back that the biggest accomplishment Johnson had so far in business was saying, "I do," claiming the senator married into his business as a plastics manufacturer.

By the closing stages, the candidates let loose and got personal.

"Why would some of our fellow citizens elect somebody who does not like this country, doesn't like Wisconsinites and surely doesn't like law enforcement?" Johnson said during a fiery speech in Dodgeville.

Barnes responded that Johnson is "a person who will stoop to disgusting lows just to win a seat in political office. I mean that is a very telling aspect of a person's character."

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Ron Johnson wins third term in U.S. Senate, defeats Mandela Barnes