Wisconsin’s Johnson beats Barnes; key Senate seat stays GOP

By SCOTT BAUER
Associated Press

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson has defeated Democrat Mandela Barnes to keep a seat in Republican hands. Johnson won a third term in the midterm elections that concluded Tuesday, preventing Barnes from becoming the state’s first Black senator. Johnson, a Republican businessman, has drifted toward the right in recent years, including sometimes provocative and scientifically dubious statements during the coronavirus pandemic. Johnson successfully hammered Barnes on crime and inflation to overcome his own negatives. Barnes, the state’s lieutenant governor, had tried to make abortion a major issue in the campaign.