Ron Johnson pushes Barnes on crime positions as GOP pulls ahead in Wisconsin race

Wisconsin Senate candidates Mandela Barnes, a Democrat, and incumbent Republican Sen. Ron Johnson squared off on crime, guns and more in a Friday debate.

In numerous ads, Johnson has painted Barnes as "dangerous" and contributing to a spike in crime, and on Friday he renewed his attacks on Barnes. "He says it pains him to see fully funded police budgets," Johnson said at one point, and elsewhere tied Barnes to the high crime.  Thomas Phippen is an Editor at Fox News.

"Because of that 'defund the police' effort, it is very difficult to recruit. We are 1,000 officers below where we were in Wisconsin just from 2008, and people are having a very difficult time. Sheriffs are having a very difficult time recruiting new officers. Where they may have had 100 recruits, they may have had a dozen," Johnson said.