?When QAnon and the Tea Party have a baby?: Ron Johnson will run again for US Senate

The Wisconsin senator Ron Johnson, a hardline Trump supporter once described as "what you get when QAnon and the Tea Party have a baby", has reportedly decided to seek a third term, a step he once promised not to take.

Two Republicans confirmed Johnson's plan to the Associated Press and said he could announce as soon as early next week. Johnson did not comment.

Both parties are likely to welcome the news, given Johnson's emergence as a leading promoter of both Donald Trump's lies about election fraud and Covid-19 misinformation.

In a Republican party dominated by Trump, who has endorsed Johnson, a third run would avoid a chaotic primary.

Among Democrats, Johnson is seen as beatable in a November contest which will help decide control of a Senate split 50-50 and controlled via Vice-President Kamala Harris.

With Republicans favoured to take back the House, Democrats are desperate to hold the Senate, not least to protect Joe Biden's chances of naming at least one justice to a supreme court skewed 6-3 in favour of conservatives after Trump's time in power.

Earlier this month, Brandon Scholz, a Republican operative, told the Hill: "I think you will find almost every Republican in Wisconsin and outside of Wisconsin wanting Ron Johnson to run because of what's at stake, and that's the majority of the Senate for Republicans. If he doesn't run, that makes it more difficult."