Letter to the Editor: Johnson Doesn’t Represent Constituents

I recently listened in to a Ron Johnson “Tele Town Hall.” One of the callers asked Mr. Johnson if he takes into consideration, when voting, the feedback he gets from constituents. He danced around the answer a bit, but in the end basically said that we elected him and we elected Mr. Trump, and so it makes sense for him to vote along Republican party lines (which he has done, 100 percent).

Now, I’ll admit that this is my interpretation and paraphrase. If I got it wrong, I’d appreciate a statement from Mr. Johnson to clarify his position. One of the problems with the Tele Town Hall format is the inability to ask follow-up questions for the purpose of clarity.

But my real point is this: Neither Mr. Johnson nor Mr. Trump won by anything more than the narrowest margin. Mr. Trump received 47.9 percent of Wisconsin’s votes – meaning that 52.1 percent voted for someone else. Mr. Johnson received 50.2 percent of the votes for Senator, meaning he won by less than one-half of one percent. These are razor thin margins, and while a win is a win, these numbers show that the people of Wisconsin did not provide a mandate for an all-Republican agenda.

In addition, in a late-February response to an email I sent to him, Mr. Johnson said that his office had received more than two million phone calls, emails and letters to date. His office does not release data regarding the contacts, but I suspect that they have been overwhelmingly negative toward Mr. Trump’s agenda. Again – if I am wrong I would welcome a release of this data from Mr. Johnson. Nevertheless, Mr. Johnson has voted unfailingly along party lines, supporting the Trump agenda. It makes me feel like he is ignoring half of the constituents of Wisconsin.

I understand that he doesn’t plan to run for re-election and therefore may not be terribly concerned about satisfying his constituents. Nevertheless, Wisconsin is a purple state; Mr. Johnson would do well to remember that for the sake of whoever runs for his seat.

Pam H. Jacobs

Brussels, Wis.