GOP holds onto Senate seat in Wisconsin

Republican incumbent Sen. Ron Johnson defeated challenger Mandela Barnes on Wednesday with just over 50 percent of the vote, according to The Associated Press. Barnes conceded the race Wednesday and vowed to stay involved. He said that not crossing the finish line doesn’t mean it’s over. As of mid-afternoon Wednesday, three seats in the U.S. Senate midterm elections were undecided, with races in Arizona and Nevada still too close to call. Georgia’s race is headed to a runoff election after neither candidate secured a majority of the vote Tuesday. 

Who is Johnson? This will be Johnson’s third term as senator—he was first elected in 2010. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported earlier this season that he once promised to serve only two terms. Johnson campaigned as tough on crime. He said he supports pro-life laws with exceptions for rape, incest, and the life and health of the mother. But he also said during his campaign that he would support a single-issue referendum on abortion in the state. Wisconsin’s court system is currently deciding whether the state can enforce a pre–Roe v. Wade law that protects babies in every case except to save the life of the mother. A newer law protects babies from abortion after 21 weeks of gestation. The governor and the attorney general have sued to block the older law, and abortion centers are closed until the court decides.

Dig deeper: Read Leo Briceno’s report in The Stew on the “red wave” missing the Senate.