Senator Ron Johnson Appears to Be Breaking His Promise, and I’m Okay With That

Conservatives are hard to come by on Capitol Hill. Even when the GOP has a majority, it seems that there are only a handful of actual America-First constitutional conservatives on the floor, especially in the Senate.

But there’s an even rarer breed of lawmaker on Capitol Hill: Those telling the truth about Covid-19 vaccines. Senator Ron Johnson happens to be one of them, which is why I’m happy with his anticipated announcement that he’s running for reelection this year.

Why would I even consider being concerned? Because if he runs, he’s breaking his promise. When he ran in 2010 for the first time, he promised he was only going to serve for two terms. A win in November would launch his third term in office. Normally I rail against politicians who break their word. At such a time as this, we have to be flexible with the good guys because, frankly, there just aren’t very many of them left.

Johnson is one of them. According to The Daily Wire:

Johnson, one of former President Trump’s staunchest allies in Congress, previously declined to say whether he was running for another term in the Senate, but CBS News reported that Johnson is being pressured to run again.

“I never anticipated the importance of continuing to uncover the corruption,” Johnson told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel last month, via CBS News. “But also just this moment, right here, this is crucial that Republicans retain this Senate seat and I think just about everybody I talk to says I probably have the best chance of doing that. And that puts a fair amount of pressure on me to do that. No, I mean, look, when I made that pledge, when my wife (Jane) and I made that pledge, that was our very strong preference.”

CNN also reported Friday that Republicans were “growing bullish” that Johnson would announce he was running again, with one source saying that Johnson could make an announcement as soon as next week. The outlet cited several anonymous sources who said that Senate Republicans have the “distinct impression” that Johnson is going to run again, and “would be surprised if he did not.”

Johnson, for his part, has been mum on the subject. “I’m not ready to say anything,” Johnson told CNN. Asked by the outlet if he was going to announce his campaign next week, Johnson simply said, “I do all kinds of events.” 

Johnson stood by President Trump’s side even as others were jumping ship immediately after the 2020 election. He supported those who participated in the January 6 mostly peaceful protests. Most importantly, he’s helped to shine a light on various Covid-19 issues ranging from its origins to early treatments to vaccine hesitancy.

He’s far from perfect. At times, he’s seemed to be a little more moderate than I like in a Senator. But even on his worst days he’s more conservative than 80% of Republicans in the upper chamber, so I would be concerned with getting someone less potent and freedom-minded if he did fulfill his promise to retire after two Senate terms.

I wouldn’t go so far as to endorse him yet. We don’t know who’s in the field at this point. But if he stays in the Senate another six years, I’ll be happy with that result.