Mon. Jul 1st, 2024
Occasional Digest - a story for you

Incumbent U.S. Senator Ron Johnson (R) and Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes (D) jot down notes prior to U.S. Senate Debate Friday, Oct. 7, 2022, located at Studios of Milwaukee PBS in Milwaukee.

After tens of millions of dollars in dueling ads and weeks of circling each other on the campaign trail, Wisconsin Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson and his Democratic challenger, Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, finally squared off in their first debate Friday night.

Meeting in a Milwaukee television studio with just a month to go before the midterms, Johnson and Barnes each sought to portray the other as out of step with Wisconsin voters.

They clashed over crime, abortion, the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol and riots in Kenosha.

Here are five takeaways.

U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., left, and his Democratic challenger Mandela Barnes take notes before a televised debate, Friday, Oct. 7, 2022, in Milwaukee.

Abortion

Like Democrats across the state and country, Barnes went on the offense on abortion, saying he supports laws that held under Roe v. Wade, which the U.S. Supreme Court overturned.

“Now, the senator called the overturning of Roe v. Wade a victory,” Barnes said. “He celebrated the court’s decision. And he said that if women don’t like the laws of their state, like the 1849 criminal abortion ban we have here, he said they can move. I can’t think of more callous, out-of-touch, more extreme position to take.”

Johnson made his push for a referendum on the subject.

“We all agree that society has responsibility to protect life,” Johnson said. “But at what point does society have responsibility to protect life in the womb? I want we the people to decide that. I would have one vote like every other Wisconsin citizen.”

Source link

Discover more from Occasional Digest

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading