Hank Johnson

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Hank Johnson

United States Representative from Georgia's 4th district
In office Term Starts January 2007
Preceded by	Cynthia McKinney
Succeeded by	Incumbent

Born	October 2, 1954 Washington, D.C.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Mereda Davis Johnson
Religion	Buddhist, Soka Gakkai International

Henry “Hank” Johnson Jr. is the Representative-elect from Georgia's Fourth Congressional District, which includes most of DeKalb and portions of Gwinnett and Rockdale counties.^[1] A Democrat, Johnson was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in the November 7, 2006 general election. Johnson is, along with Mazie Hirono (D – Hawaii), one of two Buddhists elected to Congress in 2006. They are the first Buddhists in American history to serve in the United States Congress.^[2]

1 Personal
2 Online engagement
3 2006 election to the U.S. House of Representatives
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Personal

Johnson graduated from Clark College (now Clark Atlanta University) in 1976 and Texas Southern University’s Thurgood Marshall School of Law in Houston in 1979; he practiced law in Decatur, Georgia for more than 25 years.

He was elected to the DeKalb County Commission in 2000 and served two terms. Prior to his service on the Commission, he worked as an Associate Magistrate Judge for ten years.^[3]

Johnson's wife, Mereda Davis Johnson, is also an attorney; they have two children.

Johnson grew up in Washington, D.C. His father worked for the Bureau of Prisons and was the director of classifications and paroles, up to that time, the highest ranking African American in the bureau.^[4]

Johnson is a practicing Buddhist, one of the two first (the other is Mazie Hirono) elected Buddhists to the United States Congress. Johnson is a member of Soka Gakkai.

[edit] Online engagement

Johnson's aggressive engagement of the blogosphere and the online political community has been noted by observers and journalists.^[5] Johnson was the first Congressional candidate invited to blog for The Hill newspaper's "Congress Blog," typically reserved for Members of Congress.^[6]

"I’m tremendously excited about the opportunity to use this unique medium to strengthen democracy by increasing open interaction between constituents and candidates," Johnson wrote. "I hope to provide you with an inside view of this hotly-contested, high stakes runoff."

[edit] 2006 election to the U.S. House of Representatives

Main article: Georgia 4th congressional district election, 2006

Johnson forced incumbent Representaive Cynthia McKinney into a runoff by holding McKinney under 50% in the July 18, 2006 Democratic primary: McKinney got 47.1% of the vote; Johnson 44.4%, and a third candidate got 8.5%.^[7]. McKinney had been favored to win, so her narrow margin surprised observers. Johnson picked up support because, after the primary, he seemed to have a real possibility of winning.

In the runoff of August 8, 2006, although there were about 8,000 more voters, McKinney got about the same number of votes as in the July primary. Johnson won with 41,178 votes (59%); McKinney got 28,832 (41%). ^[8]

The 4th is one of the most Democratic districts in the South, and among Georgia districts, only the neighboring 5th is considered more Democratic. It is so heavily Democratic that Johnson's primary victory all but assured him of becoming the district's third congressman (it was created as the 11th in 1993 and renumbered the 4th in 1997). In November, he trounced the Republican candidate, Catherine Davis, with 76% of the vote--one of the largest percentages for a Democrat in a contested election, and the largest in the history of the district.

On October 6, 2006, Congressional Quarterly's "On Their Way," which features promising candidates soon-to-arrive in Washington, featured Johnson.^[9]

Political offices
Preceded by: Cynthia McKinney	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Georgia's 4th congressional district 2007-Present	Succeeded by: Incumbent