Ron johnson wisconsin biography

Ronald Harold Johnson born April 8, is an American businessman and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Wisconsin , a seat he has held since A Republican , Johnson was first elected to the U. Senate in , defeating Democratic incumbent Russ Feingold.

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He was reelected in , defeating Feingold in a rematch, and in , narrowly defeating Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes. Before entering politics, he was chief executive officer of a polyester and plastics manufacturer in Oshkosh, Wisconsin , founded by his brother-in-law. He has rejected the scientific consensus on climate change.

He has also suggested Social Security and Medicare spending be subject to an annual congressional vote. His father was of Norwegian descent and his mother of German ancestry. He continued his studies but did not receive a graduate degree. In , Johnson moved to Oshkosh, Wisconsin, with his wife, Jane. Curler created the company with funding from his and Jane's father, Howard Curler.

The U. Senate campaign was Johnson's first run for elected office. According to The New York Times , Johnson said he "did kind of spring out of the Tea Party" and is glad to be associated with it, [ 10 ] although he did not join the Senate Tea Party Caucus following his election. He launched his campaign by telling the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that the United States "would have been far better off not spending any of the money and [letting] the recovery happen as it was going to happen.

The Johnson campaign stated that nonprofits consider "many possibilities," but that the council "made no application" for stimulus funds. Johnson said that, as CEO, he had personally determined the dollar amount and that it was unrelated to the contributions he had made to his campaign.