Wisconsin's Biggest Paper Says Ron Johnson 'Worst Senator,' Endorses Barnes

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the biggest newspaper in the state of Wisconsin, publicly sided with Democratic Senate candidate Mandela Barnes on Wednesday in an editorial that called Republican Ron Johnson "Wisconsin's worst senator in decades."

The article, signed by the USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin editorial board, said that the "democracy is on the ballot" on November 8, when the state will vote for both its new senator and governor.

In the Senate race, incumbent Johnson is facing challenger Barnes, while in the gubernatorial race, the Republican businessman Tim Michels is taking on the Democrat incumbent Tony Evers. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel asked his voters to choose Barnes and Evers in the incoming midterms over the Republican nominees.

"Normally, the USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin editorial board does not recommend candidates in elections, but because of the stakes in this election—and our deep concerns with these candidates—we have decided to do so," the article reads.

Both candidates—Johnson and Michels—are election-deniers, having repeatedly said that the 2020 presidential election was somehow rigged or stolen from Donald Trump.

"Johnson has played fast and loose with the facts for years," writes the Milwaukee-based newspaper.

"He's an anti-science superspreader of conspiracies who has claimed sunspots cause global warming and warned that the vaccines that saved millions of lives could make the COVID-19 pandemic worse. He has touted unproven remedies for the virus and even suggested that gargling with mouthwash could kill it."

The newspaper goes on to call Johnson "incompetent," having compiled "an appallingly slim list of accomplishments for 12 years in office," and criticizes him for recently suggesting to rewrite the rules around Medicare and Social Security and for once claiming that climate change was "b*******."

The article also retraces the senator's actions following the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riots, when, in an interview with a conservative talk-radio show, Johnson said that the attackers were "people that love this country, that truly respect law enforcement, would never do anything to break the law."

In an opinion piece from the same USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin editorial board, the newspaper go even harder on the incumbent senator, giving eight reasons not to vote for Johnson.

These include: his desire to upend Medicare and Social Security; his involvement in Trump's 'fake elector' scheme; his refusal to deny that the 2020 election had not been stolen; his downplaying of the Jan. 6, 2021 attacks on the Capitol; his siding with the ultra-wealthy donors by giving them tax cuts; his lack of interest in creating jobs for Wisconsinites; his involvement in spreading COVID-19 related misinformation; and his climate denials.

Newsweek has contacted Johnson for comment.

In comparison, the newspaper wrote, Johnson's opponent Barnes "is young at 35 but has served two terms as state representative and one as lieutenant governor."

The newspaper called the Democratic candidate someone who "knows what it's like to work hard," as he comes from middle-class roots, and who's an "unapologetic progressive but no radical."

With only five days before the crucial midterms voting, Johnson is favored to win the race by FiveThirtyEight, who gives him a 79 in 100 chance of holding on to the Senate seat.

Recent polls show between a 2 to 5 percentage point difference between the two candidates, with Emerson College giving Johnson a majority of 51 percent of the votes against Barnes' 46 percent, as per a poll ran between October 27 and 29.

Wick's latest poll, conducted between October 26 and 30, puts Johnson in the lead by 4 percentage points ahead of Barnes (50 percent against 46 percent).

The most recent poll by Marquette University Law School in Milwaukee, which ran between October 24 and November 1, shows Johnson ahead with 50 percent, while Barnes has 48 percent of the vote.