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Ben Wikler: “Ron Johnson won by 1 percentage point [in 2022].”

Featuring: Ben Wikler, Democratic | Chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin

The Democratic Party Needs Change | The Ezra Klein Show

Published July 28, 2026 | Video Starts at 33:27

… traditional Republican voters at a time when the Republican Party was riven in the state of Wisconsin. And then the Last time was 2022, which had a Democratic president. He Ron Johnson won by 1 percentage point [in 2022]. but he, he did well enough that he was able to pull it off. So at one level it's that I also think that Ron Johnson holds teletown halls all the time. (33:27–33:33)

CLAIM

Asserts that Ron Johnson won his election by a margin of 1 percentage point in 2022.

This is an excerpt from a raw transcript. The assertions have not been audited or verified. Tap the video to view the source footage and understand the context.

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Ben Wikler

“It was the fifth of the last seven presidential races that came down to less than 1 percentage point [in Wisconsin].”
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“This is the only year on record where the ruling party, regardless of whether it was left, right or center, lost ground.”
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“Republican super PACs [were] funding avowed anti-Semites in Texas.”
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“A North Carolina state Supreme Court race that the Democratic candidate lost by 401 votes led to the re-gerrymandering of the state.”
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“The United States Republican House majority [was affected by the North Carolina state Supreme Court race].”
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“Kamala Harris lost Wisconsin by less than a percentage point.”
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“Harris had done better than she had in any other battleground state in terms of how she did versus how Biden did.”
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“We actually gained 14 state legislative seats and won the U.S. senate race at the same time as we lost the presidential.”
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“The overwhelming issue in races all around the world and with the voters who actually shifted their vote choice between 2020 and 2024, one…”
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“There are Republicans who think Democrats are too liberal, there are Democrats who think Democrats are not fighting hard enough for change.”
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“There's a third category of people who feel like all of politics is messed up, that they can't trust either party.”
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“I would not expect for Democratic Party approval ratings to bounce back until people can see tangible results.”
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“Democrats are the party that wants to make government work for people.”
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“Our government, in so many ways, is set up to meet a million different goals other than delivering great public services.”
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“There's a ton that gets in the way right now of having a government that's capable of being responsive and effective.”
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“It's never been more urgent to have a government that is both responsive and effective.”
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“Democrats can rebuild trust in government and in themselves by being excellent and actually delivering.”
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“There were times in American life when parties were a huge part of your daily and monthly and weekly existence.”
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“When you became a naturalized citizen of the country, the local Democratic Party and sometimes the Republican Party was there to greet you.”
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“If they [Republicans] had won that super majority, they could have destroyed the Wisconsin Elections Commission and guaranteed future…”
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“It's in the state party's constitution that it is neutral in primaries.”
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“It's also part of that tradition to have the public get to call the shots.”
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“Wisconsin was the state that created open primaries.”
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“In 1948, there was this watershed moment. Joe McCarthy had just become the Republican senator in Wisconsin and the Democratic Party of…”
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“There is a essentially unified message this election cycle around affordability.”
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“Our federal government works for a cabal of far right billionaires and not for working people.”
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“Republicans in Wisconsin in the governor's race had a contested primary, and then it evaporated when Donald Trump tapped his favorite…”
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“I've seen Republicans running as Democrats in order to become spoilers.”
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“Maybe 90% of voters already know who they're going to support even before they know who the candidates are.”
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“The GOP has announced they're going to run a campaign of hate, that Axios had this report that they're going to run a campaign trying to…”
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“Ron Johnson holds teletown halls all the time.”
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“Ron Johnson is a huge vaccine skeptic and COVID vaccine skeptic.”
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“There are five candidates for governor in Wisconsin right now, and they represent kind of the. A big part of the range of the Democratic…”
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“Wisconsin has almost perfectly evenly divided voters across the two parties.”
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“It often comes down to the final ballots that are counted through the Milwaukee Central count system.”
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“It comes down to the margins in red rural counties that have voted 70% for the GOP, but this time they vote 68% and you're able to win.”
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“There are voters all across our state who are furious about the way things are right now, who have not yet been reached by any message from…”
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“Nancy Pelosi has a three item list for what it takes to win elections. She says it's message, money and mobilization.”
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“The Democratic Party of Wisconsin can receive big donations and then make big donations to state candidates.”
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“The US Supreme Court has changed federal laws to allow the national parties to play a bigger role with their money than they did before.”
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“Those limits [on party organization contributions to candidates] have been obliterated.”
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“In a lot of elections, voters find out who the candidate is when they walk into the polling place for state legislative races.”
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“The Democratic Party of Wisconsin has built hundreds of neighborhood teams across our state.”
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“There are people in New York and California and across the country who go through a training with our state party and learn how to staff the…”
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“Slay has made a difference in Wisconsin and a whole bunch of other states.”
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“Wisconsin had a free and fair election in 2024.”
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