GOP U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson says he doesn’t want to run again in 2028, but he’s not ruling it out.
“I’d rather go home,” Johnson said Wednesday at a Newsmaker Luncheon in Milwaukee presented by WisPolitics and the Milwaukee Press Club. “I don’t covet the position, okay? I don’t, I don’t revel in the, you know, I’m a U.S. senator. It’s, you know, I’m just a guy from Oshkosh, just trying to, literally, try and save this country.”
Johnson has struck a similar tone before about his future in elected office. He vowed before his 2016 reelection bid that he wouldn’t seek a third term. But he hedged on that promise after Dems won full control of Washington, D.C., in 2020. Shortly after announcing in early 2022 he’d seek a third term, Johnson ran a pair of TV ads seeking to explain his change of heart, saying he “can’t walk away” because of the nation’s troubles.
During Wednesday’s event, Johnson said his approach means he’s not worried about standing up to the president on issues like reconciliation.
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“I’m willing to speak out, I’m willing to say what I consider these truths are, even though they’re very unpopular, it gets me vilified and ridiculed,” Johnson said.
See more of Johnson’s comments at the luncheon here.
