(Greg Nash/Pool via AP, File)

Ron Johnson, the coronavirus-conspiracy-pushing U.S. senator from Wisconsin, announced Sunday that he would run for reelection for a job he continuously says he doesn’t like having.

“I believe America is in peril,” Johnson wrote in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece announcing his campaign. “Much as I’d like to ease into a quiet retirement, I don’t feel I should.”

Johnson repeatedly pledged he would not run for a third term in the Senate. A day before Election Day in 2016, Johnson told supporters of his first reelection campaign he would serve “one more term. That’s it. More than enough time, 12 years.” He contrasted himself against predecessor Russ Feingold, who held the office for 18 years before losing the chance of a fourth consecutive term to Johnson in 2010.

Multiple press releases from Johnson’s 2016 campaign, available though the campaign’s website as of Jan. 7, harshly criticize Feingold for running for a fourth term. He also explicitly told the Baraboo News Republic on Oct. 2016 that he would only serve two terms as a senator and would not run in 2022.

Throughout the summer of 2021, Johnson spent considerable time on conservative radio venting his distaste for being a U.S. senator and debating with himself over whether he was effective in the first place. Last August, he told conservative radio host Wendy Bell he would “rather be somewhere else” and “rather do something else” than be a senator.

While a guest on “The Truth with Lisa Booth” last July, he said, “I don’t feel like my time here has been particularly successful.” Johnson pointed to the Affordable Care Act not being repealed and the doubling of the U.S. debt during his tenue as a U.S. senator as career failures.

Johnson slipped rapidly into to the fringes of the right wing during his second term as a U.S. senator. He has become one of the largest spreaders of COVID-19 misinformation in the federal government. Earlier this month, he decried coronavirus vaccines on “The Vicki McKenna Show” by saying, “Why do we think that we can create something better than God in terms of combatting disease?” Last December, he falsely advertised mouthwash as an effective COVID-19 treatment, which LISTERINE flatly denies. Last July, he falsely told Sean Hannity of Fox News that natural immunity is as strong, if not stronger than vaccinated immunity.

“Ron Johnson has been in the Senate looking out for himself at the expense of Wisconsinites and failing to do the job he was elected to do, and it’s time to face the consequences,” Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Ben Wikler said in a press statement reacting to Johnson’s announcement. “In 2022, Wisconsinites will hold Ron Johnson accountable and elect another Democratic senator who will put the interests of our state’s working families first.”

The race for Johnson’s seat is widely seen as either a toss-up or lean Republican by political analysts. Leading Democratic candidates for the seat include Senior VP for the Milwaukee Bucks Alex Lasry, state Treasurer Sarah Godlewski, state Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes and Outagamie County executive Tom Nelson.