Marlene Johnson

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42^nd Lt. Governor Minnesota
Marlene Johnson

In office January 3, 1983 – January 7, 1991
Governor	Rudy Perpich
Preceded by	Lou Wangberg
Succeeded by	Joanell Dyrstad

Born	January 11, 1946 (1946-01-11) (age 62) Braham, Minnesota
Political party	Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party
Profession	advertising and public relations

Marlene Johnson (b. January 11, 1946) was the 42nd Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota and the first woman to hold that office. She was elected with Governor Rudy Perpich, and held the position from 1983 – 1991.

Born and raised in Braham, Minnesota, Johnson's selection caused some controversy for the Perpich campaign in the final days of the 1982 campaign, when the campaign for Republican nominee Wheelock Whitney revealed that Johnson had two criminal charges on her record: unlawful assembly stemming from a civil rights demonstration and allegedly shoplifting $6 worth of sewing materials from a Sears store years before. The allegations did nothing to damage Perpich's campaign, as he trounced Whitney by over 300,000 votes.

In 1993, after leaving office, Johnson ran for mayor of St. Paul, Minnesota, but lost in the primary election. Later that year, she was appointed by U.S. President Bill Clinton to serve as associate administrator at the General Services Administration.

She has also since served on the executive committee of the Alliance for International Educational and Cultural Exchange and on the advisory council for the University of Minnesota’s College of Human Ecology.

Johnson currently lives in Washington, D.C. and serves as the Executive Director of NAFSA: Association of International Educators.

Political offices
Preceded by Lou Wangberg	42nd Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota 1983 – 1991	Succeeded by Joanell Dyrstad

[edit] References

Minnesota Historical Society

v • d • e Lieutenant Governors of Minnesota

Holcombe • Donnelly • Swift • Sherwood • Armstrong • Yale • Barto • Wakefield • Gilman • Rice • Ives • Clough • Day • Gibbs • L. Smith • Jones • Eberhart • E. Smith • Gordon • Burnquist • Sullivan • Frankson • Collins • Nolan • Adams • Arens • Solberg • Petersen • Richardson (acting) • Lindsten • Anderson • Thye • Miller • Anderson • Nelsen • Wright • Rolvaag • Keith • Goetz • Perpich • Olson • Wangberg • Johnson • Dyrstad • Benson • Schunk • Molnau