Ron Johnson, a millionaire businessman from Oshkosh, prides himself on not being a typical United States Senate candidate: he has no prior political experience and does not wish to make a career of being in office.
And in a political climate where it seems many voters are looking for a change from the status quo, the Republican Johnson quickly gained a lot of momentum and a sizable following, in particular from the Tea Party movement.
Coupled with a declining confidence in Democratic policies, the Tea Party and other independent groups have reinvigorated conservative voters by pushing for a return to ultra-conservative principles at all levels of government.
“Ron Johnson is an organic candidate that sprang up out of the people and made the perfect pitch on how he’d get [the county] back on track,” Andrew Welhouse, spokesperson for the Republican Party of Wisconsin said.
Johnson, president of the plastics company PACUR, officially entered the race for U.S. Senate in May of this year, just days before the Republican State Convention in Milwaukee.
The Republican primary race already consisted of former state commerce secretary Dick Leinenkugel, Watertown businessman Dave Westlake and Middleton property developer Terrence Wall.
But it was Johnson who walked out of the convention with the full backing of the party, not Wall as many expected.
Read the full story at the Badger Herald.
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