As Republicans across the nation seek the votes of Black Americans in November’s presidential election, U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson took the stage with Milwaukee radio host Tory Lowe on Wednesday for what was billed as a “powerful conversation.”

“We have to have the conversation because it’s political season, the (Republican National Convention) is coming to our city, this is the stage for the Republican Party to come into our community, and we can have these conversations about what is the Wisconsin Republican Party doing in our neighborhoods, doing in our community,” said Lowe, a host on 101.7 The Truth, the news-talk radio station focusing on Milwaukee’s Black community.

The Republican National Convention will take place in downtown from July 15-18, bringing tens of thousands of people to Milwaukee.

And, in November, Wisconsin will yet again be a key swing state as former Republican President Donald Trump runs against Democratic President Joe Biden in a rematch of the 2020 election. The question of whether Black Americans will vote — and whether Republicans can draw enough of the reliably Democratic voting bloc — has trained the attention of the nation on cities like Milwaukee with large populations of Black voters.

Asked why he thought there was so much focus on Black voters, particularly Black men, Johnson said “primarily, it’s the reality on the ground.”

Republicans, he said, have been reaching out to “the entire Milwaukee community, regardless of race,” but he also noted the state Republican Party operates a headquarters location on King Drive.

Still, Johnson got pushback on whether the Republican Party is in touch with the Black community.

“Just because a person has the skin color of black doesn’t mean that they’re the leader and they’re advocating for our community because if the Black Republicans you have on your team are doing their work, it should be more Black faces inside this room than what we’re seeing,” Liz Brown told Johnson during a question-and-answer segment with members of the audience at the 3rd St. Market Hall downtown.

Johnson contended that Republicans consistently talk about the top three issues she said concern members of the Black community: economics, business and schooling.

Afterward, she told the Journal Sentinel that the Republican Party has long been out of touch because the party has not needed Black voters to win elections.

“We’ve got a lot of conservative ideas, but I think if the Republicans don’t get a clue, fast, that the energy is going to die out,” she said. “Because I think just people in totality in the Black community, we’re just tired of politics because we’re not winning either way.”

The real question, she said, is whether Black voters will want to vote or sit the election out.

Still, she said she applauded Johnson for coming to take questions in an unscripted back-and-forth.

Alison Dirr can be reached at adirr@jrn.com.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Sen. Ron Johnson speaks to Milwaukee radio host Tory Lowe