Timothy V. Johnson

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other persons named Tim Johnson, see Tim Johnson (disambiguation).
Timothy V. Johnson
Timothy V. Johnson
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Illinois's 15th district
Incumbent
Assumed office 
January 3, 2001
Preceded by Tom Ewing
Born July 23, 1946 (1946-07-23) (age 61)
Champaign, Illinois
Political party Republican
Spouse divorced
Religion Assembly of God

Timothy V. (Tim) Johnson (born July 23, 1946) is an American politician who has been a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives since 2001, representing Illinois's 15th congressional district (map). He was born in Champaign, Illinois and graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He was a lawyer, a realtor, a member of the Urbana City Council and a member of the Illinois House of Representatives from 1976 to 2000 before entering the U.S. House of Representatives.

Contents

[edit] Personal life

Johnson was born in Champaign to Robert and Margaret Evans Johnson, but spent his childhood in Urbana where he graduated high school.

Johnson has nine children and ten grandchildren.[1] He was an attorney and senior partner at Johnson, Frank, Frederick and Walsh from 1972 to 2001.[2]

Johnson is one of three Pentecostals in the 110th Congress. The others — all Republicans — are Marilyn Musgrave of Colorado and Todd Tiahrt of Kansas.[3]

[edit] Education

He attended the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1964[2] followed by the University of Illinois in Champaign/Urbana. Johnson majored in history and graduated in 1969 Phi Beta Kappa and received the Bronze tablet,[4] an honor received by the top 3% of undergraduates.[5] In 1972, Johnson graduated with honors from the University of Illinois College of Law and was elected to the Order of the Coif, a national legal honor society.[1][6]

[edit] Political career

U.S. Rep. Timothy Johnson greets constituents at the annual Mill Creek Lake Steak Fry, held in Edgar County, Illinois.
U.S. Rep. Timothy Johnson greets constituents at the annual Mill Creek Lake Steak Fry, held in Edgar County, Illinois.

In 1971, Johnson was elected to the city council of Urbana, Illinois. In 1976, Johnson was elected to serve as a representative in Springfield, after besting five other Republican candidates in the 1976 primaries.[1] In his initial congressional race, his competitor published a photo from 1980 of a paper clip lodged into Johnson's voting button at the Illinois House of Representatives, allowing him to vote along party lines while out of the chamber.[7]

[edit] Congressional career

In the House, Johnson's voting record is the most moderate among Illinois Republicans outside of the Chicago area. The American Conservative Union gave him its second-lowest rating among Illinois Republicans, behind only Mark Steven Kirk of the 10th District.

Johnson voted against the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act,[8] which passed but was vetoed by President George W. Bush.

In June 2006, Johnson voted against net neutrality, by voting for the COPE Act, and against the Markey amendment that would have inserted provisions to preserve network neutrality.

As part of the 108th Congress, Johnson received a rating of score of 0 from the Human Rights Campaign. This was for, among other things, voting against the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which would have prohibited discrimination in the workplace based on sexual orientation, and for refusing to adopt a written policy for his own office pledging not to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation in employment decisions.[9]

[edit] Committee Assignments

  • Committee on Agriculture
    • Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management
  • Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
    • Subcommittee on Highways and Transit
    • Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials

[edit] Agriculture Committee

From 2003 through 2005, $14.7 billion in crop subsidies went to the congressional districts of members on the House Committee on Agriculture, an analysis by the non-partisan Environmental Working Group found. That was 42.4% of the total subsidies. Johnson is reported to have brought $716 million to his District. [10]

[edit] Congressional campaigns

[edit] Campaign costs

In 2004, Johnson raised $533,478 in campaign funds,[11] less than half the national average for a Republican running for reelection ($1,206,138).

The 2004 campaign fundraising was about a quarter of the [12] $1,943,630 raised by his initial campaign in 2000; that in turn was nearly double the amount raised by his fellow freshmen Republicans ($1,171,118).[11]

[edit] 2006 re-election campaign

In his 2000 campaign, Johnson pledged not to serve more than three terms. However, he is running for re-election in 2008, for his fifth term. Johnson "underestimated the value of seniority," spokesman Phil Bloomer says of his boss' decision to run for a fourth term. "As a rookie going in, (he) didn't understand what he could accomplish for his district by being there a longer period."[13]

In the 2006 election in November, Johnson again faced Democrat David Gill, M.D., whom he defeated in 2004, 61% to 39%.

At the end of June 2006, Johnson had over $130,000 available for spending for his 2006 campaign, more than double the total amount raised by his opponent at that point. In the 2006 midterm elections, he was reelected by a slightly narrower 58-42% margin [1].

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c 15th Congressional District of Illinois. Biography. Accessed October 17, 2006.
  2. ^ a b Project Vote Smart. Representative Timothy V. Johnson. Accessed October 17, 2006.
  3. ^ Religion of US Congress. Adherents.com. Retrieved on 2007-07-17.
  4. ^ University of Illinois. Recipients of the Bronze tablet, 1960s.
  5. ^ University of Illinois. Bronze tablet background information
  6. ^ Associated Press election coverage. Last updated: October 16, 2006.
  7. ^ Guerrero, Lucio (October 2000). "A trio of races in this state could help tip the partisan balance in Congress". Illinois Issues. 
  8. ^ Final vote results for roll call 204. Retrieved on 2006-08-12.
  9. ^ Human Rights Campaign (2004). Congressional scorecard, 108th Congress. Retrieved on 2006-08-11.
  10. ^ Dilanian, Ken, " Billions go to House panel members' districts", USA Today. July 26, 2007.
  11. ^ a b The price of admission. opensecrets.org. Retrieved on 2006-08-11.
  12. ^ Total raised and spent, 2000 race, Illinois district 15. opensecrets.org. Retrieved on 2006-08-11.
  13. ^ Andrea Stone (2006-04-12). Term-limit pledges get left behind. USA Today. Retrieved on 2006-08-11.

[edit] External links


Preceded by
Thomas W. Ewing		 U.S. Representative of Illinois's 15th Congressional District
2001–		 Succeeded by
Incumbent
v • d • e
Illinois's current delegation to the United States Congress
Senators
Representative(s)
State delegations
Alabama • Alaska • Arizona • Arkansas • California • Colorado • Connecticut • Delaware • Florida • Georgia • Hawaii • Idaho • Illinois • Indiana • Iowa • Kansas • Kentucky • Louisiana • Maine • Maryland • Massachusetts • Michigan • Minnesota • Mississippi • Missouri • Montana • Nebraska • Nevada • New Hampshire • New Jersey • New Mexico • New York • North Carolina • North Dakota • Ohio • Oklahoma • Oregon • Pennsylvania • Rhode Island • South Carolina • South Dakota • Tennessee • Texas • Utah • Vermont • Virginia • Washington • West Virginia • Wisconsin • Wyoming
Non-voting delegations
Languages