2022 United States Senate election in Wisconsin
The 2022 United States Senate election in Wisconsin was held on November 8, 2022, to elect a member of the United States Senate from Wisconsin. The party primaries were held on August 9, 2022. Incumbent Republican Senator Ron Johnson won election to a third term, defeating Democratic Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes by 26,718 votes—a one-point margin of victory. In this election, Johnson won 5 counties he lost in 2016.
In 2016, Johnson had pledged to serve only two terms in the Senate. He reversed this decision in 2022. The race was one of the most competitive of the cycle, and it followed considerable Democratic success in recent statewide elections. In 2018, Democrats won every statewide contest on the ballot, including the election for the state's 2018 [United States Senate election in Wisconsin|other Senate seat]. This was one of the two Republican-held Senate seats up for election in a state that Joe Biden won in the 2020 [United States presidential election|2020 presidential election].
Barnes led in most polls during the summer of 2022. In the final weeks prior to the election, Johnson took a lead of more than three points in the polling average. Though Johnson ultimately prevailed, this election was the closest of his three Senate victories. This was the first Senate election in Wisconsin since 1998 in which the winning candidate was of a different party than the winner of the concurrent gubernatorial election.
Republican primary
Candidates
Nominee
- Ron Johnson, incumbent U.S. senator
Eliminated in primary
- David Schroeder, former educator
Disqualified
- Brad Beyer, U.S. Army veteran
- Keith Neubert, paramedic
Withdrawn
- John Berman, electronic hardware designer, test engineer, and candidate for U.S. Senate in 2020
Declined
- David Beth, Kenosha County sheriff
- Sean Duffy, former U.S. representative from
- Mike Gallagher, U.S. representative from '
- Eric Hovde, candidate for U.S. Senate in 2012
- Rebecca Kleefisch, former lieutenant governor of Wisconsin '
- Kevin Nicholson, businessman, former member of the Wisconsin Board of Veterans Affairs, and candidate for U.S. Senate in 2018 '
- Bryan Steil, U.S. representative from '
- Scott Walker, former governor of Wisconsin
Democratic primary
Candidates
Nominee
Eliminated in primary
- Kou Lee, restaurant owner
- Adam Murphy, business owner
- Steven Olikara, founder and CEO of Millennial Action Project
- Peter Peckarsky, attorney and candidate for chair of the Democratic National Committee in 2017
- Darrell Williams, Wisconsin Emergency Management administrator
Did not file
- Chantia Lewis, Milwaukee Common Councillor
Withdrew
- Gillian Battino, radiologist '
- Sarah Godlewski, state treasurer of Wisconsin '
- Chris Larson, state senator from the 7th district '
- Alex Lasry, senior vice president of the Milwaukee Bucks and former intern in the Obama administration '
- Tom Nelson, Outagamie County executive, former Majority Leader of the Wisconsin Assembly, and nominee for lieutenant governor of Wisconsin in 2010 and for in 2016
- Jeff Rumbaugh, disability rights activist and candidate for governor in 2018 ''''
Declined
- Tony Evers, governor of Wisconsin '
- Josh Kaul, attorney general of Wisconsin '
- Ron Kind, U.S. representative from
- Mark Pocan, U.S. representative from ''''
Polling
Graphical summaryGeneral election
Polling
Aggregate pollsGraphical summary
| Poll source | Date administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Ron Johnson | Mandela Barnes | Other | Undecided |
| Civiqs | November 4–7, 2022 | 739 | ± 3.7% | 50% | 49% | – | 1% |
| Research Co. | November 4–6, 2022 | 450 | ± 4.6% | 51% | 45% | – | 4% |
| Data for Progress | November 2–5, 2022 | 1,504 | ± 2.0% | 53% | 47% | – | – |
| The Trafalgar Group | November 2–4, 2022 | 1,095 | ± 2.9% | 50% | 47% | – | 3% |
| Marquette University | October 24 – November 1, 2022 | 802 | ± 4.6% | 48% | 45% | 5% | 1% |
| Marquette University | October 24 – November 1, 2022 | 679 | ± 4.8% | 50% | 48% | 1% | 1% |
| Clarity Campaign Labs | October 27–31, 2022 | 888 | ± 3.3% | 46% | 48% | – | 6% |
| Siena College | October 27–31, 2022 | 655 | ± 4.8% | 47% | 45% | 2% | 6% |
| Fox News | October 26–30, 2022 | 1,000 | ± 3.0% | 48% | 45% | 3% | 5% |
| Wick Insights | October 26–30, 2022 | 1,089 | ± 3.2% | 50% | 46% | 2% | 2% |
| Emerson College | October 27–29, 2022 | 1,000 | ± 3.0% | 50% | 46% | 2% | 3% |
| Emerson College | October 27–29, 2022 | 1,000 | ± 3.0% | 51% | 46% | 3% | – |
| Patriot Polling | October 20–23, 2022 | 801 | – | 52% | 43% | – | 5% |
| Data for Progress | October 14–22, 2022 | 1,376 | ± 3.0% | 51% | 46% | – | 2% |
| CNN/SSRS | October 13–17, 2022 | 905 | ± 4.2% | 45% | 48% | 5% | 1% |
| CNN/SSRS | October 13–17, 2022 | 714 | ± 4.5% | 50% | 49% | 1% | – |
| Clarity Campaign Labs | October 7–11, 2022 | 874 | ± 3.3% | 47% | 48% | – | 5% |
| Marquette University | October 3–9, 2022 | 801 | ± 4.3% | 47% | 47% | 5% | 2% |
| Marquette University | October 3–9, 2022 | 652 | ± 4.8% | 52% | 46% | 2% | 1% |
| YouGov/CBS News | October 3–7, 2022 | 1,138 | ± 3.7% | 50% | 49% | – | 1% |
| Public Policy Polling | September 26–27, 2022 | 574 | – | 47% | 47% | – | 6% |
| Fox News | September 22–26, 2022 | 1,012 | ± 3.0% | 48% | 44% | 3% | 5% |
| Fabrizio Ward /Impact Research | September 18–25, 2022 | 1399 | ± 4.4% | 51% | 46% | – | 5% |
| Data for Progress | September 20–23, 2022 | 999 | ± 3.0% | 50% | 48% | – | 3% |
| The Trafalgar Group | September 15–19, 2022 | 1087 | ± 2.9% | 49% | 47% | – | 5% |
| Emerson College | September 16–18, 2022 | 860 | ± 3.27% | 48% | 44% | 3% | 6% |
| Big Data Poll | September 17–18, 2022 | 852 | ± 3.4% | 49% | 46% | – | – |
| Siena College | September 14–15, 2022 | 651 | ± 4.5% | 47% | 48% | 2% | 4% |
| OnMessage Inc. | September 11–13, 2022 | 800 | – | 49% | 45% | – | 6% |
| Civiqs | September 10–13, 2022 | 780 | ± 3.7% | 49% | 48% | 1% | 2% |
| Marquette University | September 6–11, 2022 | 801 | ± 4.3% | 48% | 47% | – | 5% |
| Marquette University | September 6–11, 2022 | 632 | ± 4.7% | 49% | 48% | – | 3% |
| The Trafalgar Group | August 22–25, 2022 | 1,091 | ± 2.9% | 47% | 49% | – | 4% |
| Fox News | August 12–16, 2022 | 1,006 | ± 3.0% | 46% | 50% | 1% | 4% |
| Marquette University | August 10–15, 2022 | 811 | ± 4.2% | 44% | 51% | 1% | 4% |
| Marquette University | August 10–15, 2022 | 713 | ± 4.5% | 45% | 52% | 0% | 3% |
| Marquette University | June 14–20, 2022 | 803 | ± 4.3% | 44% | 46% | 1% | 8% |
| Clarity Campaign Labs | September 8–11, 2021 | 756 | ± 3.6% | 43% | 43% | – | 14% |
Ron Johnson vs. Sarah Godlewski
| Poll source | Date administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Ron Johnson | Sarah Godlewski | Other | Undecided |
| Marquette University | June 14–20, 2022 | 803 | ± 4.3% | 43% | 45% | 2% | 10% |
| Clarity Campaign Labs | September 8–11, 2021 | 756 | ± 3.6% | 44% | 41% | – | 15% |
Ron Johnson vs. Alex Lasry
| Poll source | Date administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Ron Johnson | Alex Lasry | Other | Undecided |
| Marquette University | June 14–20, 2022 | 803 | ± 4.3% | 45% | 42% | 2% | 11% |
| Clarity Campaign Labs | September 8–11, 2021 | 756 | ± 3.6% | 45% | 41% | – | 14% |
Ron Johnson vs. Tom Nelson
| Poll source | Date administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Ron Johnson | Tom Nelson | Other | Undecided |
| Marquette University | June 14–20, 2022 | 803 | ± 4.3% | 43% | 44% | 2% | 11% |
| Change Research | March 25–27, 2021 | 1,723 | ± 2.6% | 44% | 48% | – | 5% |
Results
By county
Counties that flipped from Democratic to RepublicanBy congressional district
Johnson won six of eight congressional districts.| District | Johnson | Barnes | Representative |
| 52% | 48% | Bryan Steil | |
| 28% | 72% | Mark Pocan | |
| 53% | 47% | Ron Kind | |
| 53% | 47% | Derrick Van Orden | |
| 23% | 77% | Gwen Moore | |
| 63% | 37% | Scott L. Fitzgerald | |
| 59% | 41% | Glenn Grothman | |
| 61% | 39% | Tom Tiffany | |
| 59% | 41% | Mike Gallagher |