evidence: GOP Sen. Ron Johnson has won re-election to a third term in Wisconsin, NBC News projects, narrowly defeating Democrat Mandela Barnes. [...] Democrats had initially been hopeful that they could oust Johnson, who was increasingly defined by headlines over his statements on issues such as abortion, his perpetuation of dubious and unproven Covid treatments, and his ties to the Jan. 6 riot and fake elector plot to help throw the 2020 election to then-President Donald Trump. [...] Barnes had also attempted to undercut Johnson’s claims that he supports law enforcement by repeatedly pointing out that he downplayed the Jan. 6 riot, in which police were overrun and in some cases brutally beaten by a pro-Trump mob.