Wisconsin Republican Senator Ron Johnson dropped a hint Tuesday night that he may not run again for his seat in 2028, setting a potential showdown in the Dairy State.
“I learned in my second run, when I absolutely meant ‘second and final,” you can’t say never, never, okay? I don’t want to. Yeah, I’d like to dig my heels in now, set this nation on a sustainable course and then go home,” Johnson said at an event in Milwaukee on Tuesday, according to The Hill.
The senator added that he was “just a guy from Oshkosh, just trying to — literally trying to save this country,” while saying that he did not “covet” the title of Senator.
At the same event, Johnson said that he agreed with Elon Musk’s concerns about Trump’s “big, beautiful bill.”
“I sympathize with Elon being discouraged.”
Johnson added that he was “pretty confident” there was enough opposition “to slow this process down until the president, our leadership, gets serious” about reducing spending. He said there was no amount of pressure Trump could put on him to change his position.
Johnson held on to his seat in 2022 with a narrow victory over Mandela Barnes in a seat that the Democrats hoped to flip during the Biden administration.
He was first elected in 2010 amid a surge in support for the Tea Party movement.
There have been signs that the Republicans could be in danger of losing the seat in 2028 if Johnson stands down.
Democratic Gov. Tony Evers won reelection in 2022. While Democratic-backed candidates for Wisconsin Supreme Court won in 2023 and in April, they took control of the court away from conservatives for the first time in 15 years, securing it until at least 2028. The state also went for Biden 2020. However, Trump carried the state in 2024.
