Incumbent U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson (R), Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes (D), and write-in candidate Scott Aubart (American Independent Party) are running in the general election on November 8, 2022, to represent Wisconsin in the U.S. Senate.
Johnson was first elected in 2010, defeating then-incumbent Sen. Russ Feingold (D), 52% to 47%. Johnson won re-election in 2016 in a rematch with Feingold, 50% to 47%. In 2018, incumbent Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D) defeated Leah Vukmir (R), 55% to 45%.
Wisconsin is one of two states holding a U.S. Senate election in 2022 with a Republican incumbent that President Joe Biden carried in the 2020 presidential election. Wisconsin is also one of six states with one Democratic and one Republican U.S. Senator as of the 2022 U.S. Senate elections.
The two most recent presidential elections in Wisconsin were both decided by less than one percentage point. In the 2020 election, President Joe Biden (D) won the state over then-incumbent President Donald Trump (R), 49.5% to 48.8%. In the 2016 election, Trump carried Wisconsin with 47.2% of the vote to Hillary Clinton’s (D) 46.5%. At the start of the 2022 election cycle, Inside Elections rated this state Battleground Republican.
The outcome of this race will affect the partisan balance of the U.S. Senate. Thirty-five of 100 seats are up for election, including one up in a special election. Democrats have an effective majority, with the chamber split 50-50 and Vice President Kamala Harris (D) having the tie-breaking vote. Fourteen seats held by Democrats and 21 seats held by Republicans are up for election in 2022.
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