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Ron Johnson

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Ron Johnson
Ron Johnson in 2010
Republican candidate for
United States Senator
from Wisconsin
Election date
November 2, 2010
IncumbentRuss Feingold (D)
Personal details
Born (1955-04-08) April 8, 1955 (age 69)
Mankato, Minnesota
Political partyRepublican
SpouseJane Johnson
Residence(s)Oskosh, Wisconsin, U.S.
Alma materUniversity of Minnesota
OccupationCEO PACUR, LLC
WebsiteRon Johnson campaign site

Ron Johnson (born April 8, 1955, Mankato, Minnesota) is the CEO of PACUR, LLC and Republican Party nominee for the 2010 U.S. Senate election in Wisconsin,[1] facing incumbent Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold in the November 2010 general election. Johnson is locked in a close race with Senator Russ Feingold.[2]

Early life, education and career

Johnson has said that after graduating from the University of Minnesota, he worked as an accountant for Josten’s, a school ring manufacturer. Johnson attended night school to study for an MBA[3], but did not receive his degree because he left before completing his thesis.[4]

In 1979, Johnson moved to Wisconsin with his wife Jane where he started PACUR, LLC, a custom sheet extruder company, with his brother-in-law. Johnson was the accountant and a machine operator, and for most of the firm's first year, he traded 12-hour shifts with his brother-in-law until they trained other operators.[citation needed]. Ron's wife Jane is the daughter of the businessman Howard Curler, co-founder of Curwod Industries, part of the Bemis family of companies.[5][6] Today, Ron Johnson is a businessman (the CEO of PACUR, LLC) and a millionaire[7]

Political Positions

Johnson has opposed increased government spending, the federal stimulus and health care legislation and the "cap and trade" bill. He has supported broad reduction in federal tax rates, simplifying regulations on business, free market health care solutions, and penalizing businesses that hire illegal immigrants.[8] Johnson has also expressed support for increasing security along the US-Mexico border.

Johnson supports defining marriage as between one man and one woman. Johnson opposes elective abortion except in the case of incest, rape and when the mother's life is in danger.[9]

Johnson sided with Catholic Church leaders in opposing a proposed Child Victims Act in testimony before a state Senate committee.[10] Johnson stands by his January 2010 testimony on the act, which proposed to eliminate the statute of limitations for alleged victims of child abuse. Johnson said he opposed the Child Victims Act because it would have financially hurt groups like the Scouts.[11]

Johnson appeared in Madison, WI at the Tea Party rally for Tax Day - April 15, 2010.[12]

When asked about allowing offshore drilling for oil in the Great Lakes, Johnson responded, "We have to get the oil where it is, but we need to do it responsibly. We need to utilize American ingenuity and American technology to make sure we do it environmentally sensitively and safely." After facing criticism from the Feingold campaign, Johnson noted that his answer did not mean he supports drilling in the Great Lakes.[13] During a debate, Johnson stated that he is "disappointed that the Obama administration is launching an assault on BP" after the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.[14] Johnson disclosed that he owns more than $100,000 worth of stock in BP.[13]

Johnson has described scientists who attribute global warming (or climate change) to man-made causes as "crazy" and the theory as "lunacy." As to his opinion on the source of climate change, Johnson said, "It's far more likely that it's just sunspot activity or just something in the geologic eons of time." He gave no response when asked to give evidence supporting the sun-spot theory.[15]

2010 U.S. Senate campaign

See also: United States Senate election in Wisconsin, 2010

On September 14 in the Republican primary Johnson, running a largely self-financed campaign, [16] defeated his opponent, Watertown businessman Dave Westlake taking 85% of the votes cast with 10% going to Westlake and the remaining 5% going to Stephen Finn.[17] This moves Johnson onto the ballot for the Senate seat in Wisconsin against incumbent Russ Feingold.[2]


Johnson is "often described as a political blank slate," according to Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel columnist Daniel Bice in that Johnson has not previously run for political office and has no legislative voting record though he has given some tea party speeches and interviewed on conservative talk radio.

While Westlake's campaign for the Republican nomination was fueled mostly by small donations, it was reported that "Johnson has poured his personal wealth into the race and pledged to pour millions more into his bid against the three-term incumbent Democrat."[18] According to the Center for Responsive Politics, as of Aug 25 2010, Johnson had invested $4.3 million (71%) of his own money into the campaign, and received more than $1.6 million (27%) in individual contributions.[19]

Associated Press Discrepancy

There has been a discrepancy during Johnson's 2010 U.S. Senate Campaign dealing with the issue of a four million dollar government subsidy or state loan, which Pacur LLC may or may not have benefitted from in 1983. Pacur LLC received $4 million in low-interest loans to buy equipment and expand its plant, according to Winnebago County documents obtained by The Associated Press. The loans were part of a state-run program in which tax-free bonds are sold to investors and the proceeds lent to a company at low-interest rates. Pacur won approval in 1983 to receive $1.5 million through the sale of the special bonds. About two years later, the Oshkosh company was approved to receive another $2.5 million.On the campaign trail, Johnson criticizes subsidies, saying it should be up to customers — not the government — to pick winners and losers in the business world. He also told WKOW-TV he never asked for government aid for his business. "I have never lobbied for some special treatment or for a government payout," Johnson said. Johnson's campaign countered this is an inaccurate spin. The $4 million is not government assistance because it came from investors who bought the bonds, not from a federal handout, spokeswoman Sara Sendek said. "This is a loan, not a government subsidy. Pacur received a loan and they paid it back," Sendek said. The bonds in question are industrial-development revenue bonds, or IRBs. Several academics said it is a subsidy, although indirectly. "Tax-free bonds allow a borrower to borrow at a lower rate," said Andrew Reschovsky, a professor of applied economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. "That's a subsidy from normal borrowing." There's less uncertainty about a separate $75,000 federal grant that went to the company that was the precursor to Pacur. Wisconsin Industrial Shipping Supplies Inc. received the money in 1979 to build a railroad line to the company, which was renamed Pacur several months later.[20]

References

  1. ^ Catanese, David (July 6, 2010). "Johnson balances GOP, tea party". Politico.com.
  2. ^ a b "Wisconsin Senate - Feingold vs. Johnson". Realclearpolitics.com.
  3. ^ http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/20100924/pl_ynews/ynews_pl3725
  4. ^ "Ron Johnson for Senate website".
  5. ^ "Chamco Inc. The Oshkosh Industrial Development Corporation 20th Anniversary Booklet" (PDF).
  6. ^ Lounsbury, Jud (September 16, 2010). "New Evidence Shows Johnson's PACUR was Created By His Father-In-Law as a Bemis Boondoggle". Uppity Wisconsin, Progressive News from the Cheddarspere.[unreliable source?](blog)
  7. ^ Schaper, David (September 28, 2010). "Democrat Feingold Faces Tough Battle". National Public Radio.
  8. ^ "Real Reforms for Health Care". Ron Johnson for Senate website. June 10, 2010.
  9. ^ The Cap Times, July 5, 2010, Wisconsin Right to Life toes GOP line, http://host.madison.com/ct/news/opinion/editorial/article_c324bbda-882c-11df-967b-001cc4c03286.html
  10. ^ Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, June 6, 2010, Ron Johnson's record includes opposition to victims' bill
  11. ^ Wisconsin Public Radio, Patty Murray, Sept 30 2010, http://www.fox21online.com/news/senate-candidate-johnson-defends-position-child-sex-crimes
  12. ^ National Public Radio, September 28, 2010, http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130175533
  13. ^ a b Umhoefer, Dave (July 15, 2010). "Feingold, Johnson spar over oil drilling". Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. Retrieved 2010-07-18.
  14. ^ The Cap Times, "The troubles with GOP’s Ron Johnson", June 30, 2010
  15. ^ Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Sunspots are behind climate change, Johnson says"
  16. ^ 2010 House and Senate Campaign Finance for Wisconsin, http://www.fec.gov:80/DisclosureSearch/HSRefreshCandList.do?category=stateS_all&stateName=WI&election_yr=2010
  17. ^ "Wisconsin Primary Results". The New York Times.
  18. ^ Politico, July 5, 2010, http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=A8A91F4B-18FE-70B2-A839FF0F27AFAD13
  19. ^ Center for Responsive Politics, Aug 25 2010, accessed Oct 1 2010, http://www.opensecrets.org/races/summary.php?id=WIS2&cycle=2010
  20. ^ The Post Crescent (Dinesh Ramde, Associated Press Writer) August 27, 2010, http://www.postcrescent.com/article/20100827/APC0101/8270481/U-S-Senate-hopeful-Ron-Johnson-s-business-received-4-million-in-low-interest-loans#ixzz11GQwhBII.

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