Ruth Johnson

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Ruth Johnson is a Michigan politician. She is the County Clerk / Register of Deeds for Oakland County, and was the 2006 Republican candidate for Lieutenant Governor as the running mate of Dick DeVos. Since the election she has tried to distance herself from DeVos on several levels, because of this some experts think she will run for statewide office in 2010, either as governor or Secratery of State.

Johnson was an Oakland County Commissioner from 1988 to 1998, and a State Representative from 1998 to 2004, where she served as assistant GOP Whip, chaired the House Land Use and Environment Committee, and Co-Chaired the Capitol Caucus.

She was elected Oakland County Clerk/Register in 2004, defeating previous incumbent William Caddell in the Republican primary. She took office on January 1, 2005; her term expires at the end of 2008.

In 2006, Republican gubernatorial candidate Dick DeVos, looking to balance his ticket with someone from Metro Detroit, chose her as his running mate. However, she was not highly visible during the campaign. For example, very few of DeVos' campaign signs had Johnson's name on them, whereas Gov. Jennifer Granholm's signs almost always mentioned Lieutenant Governor John Cherry.