Republican Sen. Ron Johnson, emerging from a private meeting last week with business executives at a massive foundry-turned-tech hub, smiled despite what he said was a difficult conversation about inflation, high energy prices, staffing shortages and rising crime.
“We had a very good discussion, even though it wasn’t particularly uplifting, because the reality right now is concerning,” Johnson said.
As one of the nation's critical U.S. Senate races nears an end, Johnson has reason to feel confident. All those negatives stand to work well for him and his party in a midterm election in which voters typically blame the party that holds the White House. And Johnson is hammering those themes in what amounts to his closing argument for voters to give him a third term over Democrat Mandela Barnes, the lieutenant governor.
