Issue Brief | U.S. Senate

Overview

Polling, focus groups, and door-to-door conversations have made it abundantly clear that issues like abortion, economy, education, healthcare, and safety are at the top of people’s minds in Wisconsin this year. We want to acknowledge the heightened role that these issues will play in general discourse in the coming months. With that in mind, A Better Wisconsin Together has put together a breakdown of where select public figures stand on these issues. This is by no means a comprehensive list, but merely a guide for navigating informed conversations.

Abortion

Mandela Barnes

  • Has said birth control and contraception should be free and widely available
  • Has said he will “always stand up for reproductive health and a woman’s right to choose”
  • Said it is a fundamental right for people to make decisions about their own bodies
  • Has tweeted about the need to abolish the filibuster and codify Roe v. Wade
  • As Lieutenant Governor, Barnes pledged to secure reproductive rights for all Wisconsinites
  • Is against Wisconsin’s 1849 Criminal Abortion Ban
  • Committed on social media to making abortion safe and affordable for all
  • Has said he would vote to pass the Women’s Health Protection Act

Ron Johnson

  • Referred to the overturning of Roe v. Wade as a “victory” and a thing of “beauty”
  • Said only people who identify as women can become pregnant, and women get pregnant to populate the Earth
  • Backs abortion only in cases of rape, incest, or life of the mother
  • Wants to create a federal 20-week abortion ban
  • Told reporters that the loss of Roe v. Wade will be “messy” for people, and that Wisconsinites should drive to Illinois if they want an abortion
  • Said he doesn’t believe the overturning of Roe v. Wade is a threat to women, and things will be “fine”

Economy

Mandela Barnes

  • Growing up in middle-class Wisconsin, has said he understands the struggle of rising costs for local families and will make lowering costs a top priority in the Senate
  • Said rebuilding the middle class and giving everyone a shot at the American dream is “exactly why he’s running for Senate”
  • Wants to raise the minimum wage
  • Believes we need an economy that “works for working people”
  • Announced that his plan to hurdle inflation is to…
  • Plans to end subsidies for wealthy gas and oil companies
  • Said middle class Americans have been “left behind” and he’s running because “we deserve better”

Ron Johnson

  • Voted ‘No’ on the Inflation Reduction Act, a piece of legislation supported by 2 out of every 3 Americans that aims to lower energy and healthcare costs, create more jobs, combat climate change, and reduce the deficit
    • He called the legislation a “fantasy”
  • Voted ‘No’ to a bill that would put millions of dollars toward domestic production of semiconductor chips, calling the legislation “corporate welfare”
  • Believes one way to reduce rising costs is to increase fossil fuel use
  • Admitted to personally benefiting from a tax loophole that he pushed for in the Senate. Wealthy donors of Johnson’s also benefited.
  • Asked Gov. Evers to severely cut unemployment benefits for Wisconsinites amid the pandemic, saying it promotes laziness
  • Supported sending union jobs away from Wisconsin, with the reasoning “It’s not like we don’t have enough jobs here in Wisconsin”
  • Opposed an expansion of the Child Tax Credit that could benefit roughly 1.2 million Wisconsin children
  • Endorsed an economic plan that would raise taxes for the state’s lowest earners
  • Wants to put social security benefits and Medicare on the chopping block each year
  • Said that vaccine mandates are harming Wisconsin’s economy

Guns / Safety

Mandela Barnes

  • Believes everyone deserves to live in a safe community
  • Has said he will stand up to the gun lobby
  • Wants illegal guns off the street
  • Supports the idea that gun violence is a public health crisis
  • Said we need to give local communities more opportunity, so that gun violence doesn’t have to fill the void
  • His plan to make Wisconsin communities safer includes:
    • Creating more good-paying jobs
    • Investments in education and childcare
    • Proper training for law enforcement
    • Having social workers respond to crisis calls
  • Said Wisconsinites deserve a community where nobody is afraid of a traffic stop
  • As Lieutenant Governor, Barnes worked on law enforcement legislation to ban chokeholds and support de-escalation training
  • As a legislator, introduced legislation supporting universal background checks and a ban on assault rifles

Ron Johnson

  • Has blamed school shootings on Critical Race Theory and “woke” teachers
  • Voted against the bipartisan gun safety bill, which aims to increase school safety, keep guns out of the hands of people experiencing mental health issues, and increase background check criteria for 18 to 21 year olds attempting to purchase firearms
  • As of 2019, had received roughly $1.2 million in campaign donations and spending on his behalf from the National Rifle Association (NRA) – an extremist group whose values are at odds with more than 80% of Wisconsinites
  • As of 2016, had an “A” rating from the NRA, meaning he “has a proven record of support for… Second Amendment freedoms and will continue to oppose the anti-gun agenda”
  • Voted against banning high-capacity firearms

Healthcare

Mandela Barnes

  • Supportive of the Build Back Better Act – now morphed into the Inflation Reduction Act – and BadgerCare expansion, both of which call for significantly lowering prescription drug costs and expanding access to affordable healthcare
  • Believes nobody should go have to go into debt to pay medical bills
  • Said healthcare is a human right
  • Wants to create a path to universal healthcare
  • Supports Medicare for all
  • Said he would fight to strengthen the Affordable Care Act
  • Believes Medicare should have authority to negotiate prescription drug prices
  • Wants to lower the eligibility age for Medicare to 50-years-old
  • Has said he will “always stand up for reproductive health and a woman’s right to choose”
  • Has said he would vote to pass the Women’s Health Protection Act

Ron Johnson

  • Voted ‘No’ on the Inflation Reduction Act, a piece of legislation supported by 2 out of every 3 Americans that aims to lower healthcare costs and cap prescription drug costs
    • He called the legislation a “fantasy”
  • Voted to take healthcare away from more than 400,000 Wisconsinites and remove protections for the more than 2 million Wisconsin residents with pre-existing conditions
  • Sine 2011 has received $270,244 in contributions from Big Pharma, while voting against legislation that would lower prescription drug costs
  • Supported an unsuccessful effort in 2017 to repeal the Affordable Care Act
  • Voted against the American Rescue Plan Act, a piece of legislation that lowered healthcare costs and expanded coverage for Wisconsinites amid the COVID-19 pandemic
  • Has spread dangerous misinformation regarding the COVID-19 pandemic
    • Said on a publicized conference call that it “may be true” that the COVID-19 vaccine causes AIDS
    • Falsely claimed that athletes were “dropping dead” due to complications from the COVID-19 vaccine
    • Promoted Ivermectin (horse dewormer) as a viable treatment for COVID-19
    • Insisted at a Town Hall event that mouthwash has been proven to kill Coronavirus
    • Questioned the effectiveness of masks in halting the spread of COVID-19, saying that masks “do more harm than good”

Education

Mandela Barnes

  • Has said investing in America’s future means investing in childcare and education
  • Said there’s no bigger responsibility than caring for the next generation
  • As Lieutenant Governor, joined Gov. Evers in proposing a budget that included an increase in funding for public schools
  • As part of the Gov. Evers administration, helped restore two-thirds funding for public schools and rank Wisconsin public schools within the top 10 in the nation
  • Is endorsed by the American Federation of Teachers Local 212, a Milwaukee based teacher’s union who champions for equitable working conditions and collective bargaining for educators
  • Has said lack of affordable childcare is one of the biggest challenges facing Wisconsin families right now
  • Said as a Senator he would fight to ensure no family spends more than 7% of their income on childcare
  • Supports legislation that would ensure childcare workers are paid a living wage
  • Wants to expand the Child Tax Credit
  • Believes that access to quality public education should be a right for every child
  • Supports universal Pre-K
  • In the legislature, introduced bills to increase special education reimbursement and lift revenue caps
  • Said it should be easier to safely get an education than it should be to get an assault weapon

Ron Johnson

  • Opposes government support to help families pay for childcare
  • Has said “it isn’t society’s responsibility to take care of other people’s children”
  • Suggested that Wisconsin mothers on welfare should be the ones staffing childcare centers
  • Referred to Milwaukee Public School students as “idiot inner city kids”
  • Said he is concerned about the influence that teacher unions have on children
  • Voiced support for private voucher schools in Milwaukee amid a federal investigation on whether the voucher schools actively discriminate against children with disabilities
  • Has blamed school shootings on Critical Race Theory and “woke” teachers