Ron Johnson

Ronald Harold Johnson (born April 8, 1955) is an American businessman and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Wisconsin, a seat he has held since 2011. A Republican, Johnson was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2010, defeating Democratic incumbent Russ Feingold. Johnson defeated Feingold in a rematch in 2016, and defeated Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes in 2022. Before entering politics, he was chief executive officer of a plastics manufacturer in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

Johnson entered politics to oppose the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and credits the Tea Party movement with his political ascent, though he does not personally identify with the movement. As a freshman senator, he gained a reputation for opposing government spending and seeking a balanced budget, having stalled or voted against budget proposals from both major parties for not offsetting spending. He is also critical of the Social Security program and has called for its partial privatization. Johnson has promoted various political conspiracy theories, including the Biden–Ukraine conspiracy theory, connections between vaccines and autism, election denial, the Great Replacement conspiracy theory, and 9/11 conspiracy theories. He advocates the use of alternative medicine and sponsored a right-to-try law to legalize the use of experimental medical treatments. Johnson also supports stronger measures against crime and illegal immigration, expansion of free trade, rejection of the scientific consensus on climate change, and protection of the right to bear arms.

Starting in his second term, Johnson aligned himself with Donald Trump. As chair of the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, he led investigations into Hillary Clinton, Hunter Biden, and officials involved in the FBI investigation of the Trump campaign. Johnson also worked on Ukraine–United States relations during his second term and saw Ukraine as an ally against Russia, but stopped supporting military aid for Ukraine after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022 because he believed a Russian victory was inevitable. Due to his interactions with Ukrainian officials, Johnson was a major witness in the 2019 Trump–Ukraine scandal and the subsequent impeachment of Donald Trump, which he said was an attempt to sabotage Trump. In his third term, Johnson has focused on investigating corruption in federal agencies, which he alleges are working against the Trump administration.

Ronald Harold Johnson was born on April 8, 1955, in Mankato, Minnesota. He was the son of Jean Johnson, a film processor, and Dale Johnson, a treasurer who worked both corporately and for the church. He held several jobs in his youth, including as a newspaper delivery boy, a caddie, a hay baler on his uncle's farm, a dishwasher, the night manager of a restaurant, and at a school yearbook company. Johnson attended Edina High School but skipped his senior year and graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1977 with a bachelor's degree in business and accounting. He began working as an accountant while studying for a Master of Business Administration, but he ended his studies in 1979 to enter business.

Johnson moved to Oshkosh, Wisconsin, where he worked as a machine operator and accountant to help establish the Pacur plastic company with his brother-in-law in 1979. He became Pacur's CEO in the mid-1980s when his brother-in-law left the company. The family sold Pacur to Bowater Industries for $18,000,000 (equivalent to $43,000,000 in 2024) in 1987, but Johnson remained CEO. He purchased Pacur from Bowater in 1997 and remained CEO until he was elected to the Senate in 2010.

In October 2009, Michelle Litjens invited Johnson to speak at an Oshkosh rally associated with the Tea Party movement. He was asked to speak about his experiences as a businessman regarding government regulation but extended the scope of his speech to health care reform and his daughter's heart defect. The speech was well-received among conservatives and gained him political support. Afterward, he reached out to Litjens to help him launch a campaign for the Senate. Johnson's wife took convincing, saying "absolutely not" when he first raised the idea.

Without previous political experience, Johnson announced his candidacy in the 2010 United States Senate election in Wisconsin a week before the May 15 Republican convention. He cited his opposition to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) as his reason for running, saying it was "the greatest assault on our freedom in my lifetime". Johnson first became known statewide with the assistance of conservative political commentator Charlie Sykes, who later opposed Johnson because of Johnson's support for Donald Trump. Since the Republican candidates entered the race late in the year, there was no time to seek donors, which made Johnson's personal wealth an advantage.

The other major Republican candidate for the Senate nomination, Wisconsin Secretary of Commerce Dick Leinenkugel, withdrew during the convention and gave a surprise endorsement to Johnson. Johnson also gained the support of Senator Jim DeMint, who held influence over the support received by Republican candidates. Johnson won the Republican primary in September with 85% of the vote, defeating Dave Westlake and Stephen Finn, who received 10% and 5%, respectively. Johnson's other opponent, Terrence Wall, dropped out of the race.

Wisconsin had long been a competitive state where both Democratic and Republican candidates were viable. The Democratic nominee in the general election, Russ Feingold, was the incumbent and had won his previous race by 11 points. Johnson's campaign was concerned about his debates against Feingold, an experienced public speaker, so they began practicing a month in advance in what Johnson called "murder sessions". Both candidates were seen as having performed well in the three debates. Feingold was the favorite to win early in the race, but polling fluctuated over the following months and was even in the days leading up to the election.

Johnson ran as a political outsider and small-business owner while criticizing Feingold as a Washington insider. His messaging emphasized fiscal responsibility, including job creation and reduction of the national debt. Johnson did not fully align with the Tea Party movement's strict reading of the Constitution, but his campaign had its backing and he was seen as a Tea Party candidate.

The main issue Johnson campaigned on was opposition to the Recovery Act and the ACA, both passed by the Obama administration. He launched his campaign by telling the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that the United States "would have been far better off not spending any of the money and [letting] the recovery happen as it was going to happen". He rarely went into detail on other policies during the campaign. He declined to say how he would reduce the federal budget if elected, saying he was not going to "start naming things to be attacked about".

Johnson has a conservative Senate voting record and is among Trump's closest Congressional allies. He considers both Trump and himself "change agent[s]". Johnson has acknowledged that the Tea Party movement was a major factor in his political rise but said he did not consider himself a member of the movement and has not joined any Tea Party organizations, though he has called himself "more Tea Party than Republican". His fellow senator from Wisconsin, Tammy Baldwin, is a Democrat who diverges drastically from Johnson in ideology. Senators from the same state are typically more closely aligned. Johnson has cited Ayn Rand's novel Atlas Shrugged as a major influence on his ideology.

Johnson is known for inviting controversy and making statements that attract media attention. He has promoted conspiracy theories on a variety of issues, which he says is a way to raise uncomfortable questions, allow people to consider alternative ideas, and hold the media accountable. He argues that "conspiracy theorist" is a label used to silence people who "want to expose the truth". Many of his remarks have received media attention as gaffes, including his accusation that The Lego Movie is anti-capitalist and his comment that public school students are "idiot inner-city kids".

Johnson's supporters have praised him for taking a direct, blunt approach to politics and support him as an anti-establishment politician. Critics see him as taking advantage of conspiracy theories to retain the support of Trump's voters. As his tenure in the Senate has lengthened, his opponents have begun to portray him as an out-of-touch Washington insider rather than an anti-establishment candidate, which Johnson has called "lies and distortions".

Johnson has said that the prevalence of single-parent households and resulting lack of father figures is a driving force of criminal activity. He opposes criminal justice reforms that he sees as incentivizing crime, including the abolition of cash bail, restrictions on police chases, and dropping charges for low-level offenders. He has said Wisconsin's criminal justice system has a "revolving door policy" in which criminals are released shortly after arrest and then commit further crimes. He has also expressed concern about the Ferguson effect, whereby police have become more hesitant to stop crime because any action puts them under increased scrutiny. Johnson is critical of the defund the police movement, which he called "dispiriting".

Johnson has accused the FBI of corruption, alleging it tried to sabotage and discredit him, and opened investigations into multiple FBI officials through his position on the Committee of Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. He aligned with the Catholic Church in opposing Wisconsin's 2010 Child Victims Act because it made it easier to sue organizations associated with sexual abusers, which he said would penalize innocent parties and disincentivize organizations from reporting abuse.

Johnson lives in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. He has been married to Jane Curler, whom he met while attending Edina High School, since 1977. They have three children, and as of 2024 they have four grandchildren. He is a member of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod and has attributed his deeply held religious beliefs to his parents. He engages in philanthropy, including donations to the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, Catholic schools, and individuals in need. He is also involved with the faith-based Joseph Project jobs program.