Mitzi Johnson

Mitzi Johnson
93rd Speaker of the Vermont House of Representatives
Assumed office
January 4, 2017
Governor Phil Scott
Preceded by Shap Smith
Member of the Vermont House of Representatives
from the Grand Isle-Chittenden-1 district
Assumed office
January 9, 2003
Personal details
Born (1970-11-18) November 18, 1970
Clifton Park, New York, U.S.
Political party Democratic
Alma mater University of Vermont
Harvard University

Mitzi Johnson (born November 18, 1970) is a Vermont politician who has served as the Speaker of the Vermont House of Representatives since January 2017.

Early life

Mitzi Johnson was born in Clifton Park, New York on November 18, 1970.[1] She was educated in the Shenendehowa Central School District, including Shenendehowa High School, and graduated from the University of Vermont in 1993 with a degree in environmental science and international development.[1][2] In 2013, she completed a master of public administration degree from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.[2]

Career

After graduating from college, Johnson became a resident of South Hero.[1] As a public policy professional, her experience includes program and project development for Hunger Free Vermont and the Vermont Freedom to Marry Task Force.[1] She was also a vegetable grower at South Hero's Allenholm Farm.[1] In addition, she has worked as a substitute teacher, piano teacher, and scarf designer.[1]

Johnson was active in South Hero as a volunteer with South Hero Rescue, which provides fire fighting and emergency medical response in Grand isle County.[1] In addition, she has served on the board of directors of the Chittenden-Grand Isle County Visiting Nurse Association (2006-2012) and the South Hero Land Trust (1995-2008).[1] From 2002 to 2006, she was a member of the advisory board for the University of Vermont's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.[1] In 2012, she was elected to the Vermont Electric Cooperative's board of directors.[1]

Vermont House of Representatives

In 2000, Johnson was an unsuccessful Democratic candidate for the Vermont House of Representatives.[2] In 2002, she was elected to the House; she has been reelected every two years since then.[1] From 2003 to 2007 she was a member of the House Agriculture Committee.[1] From 2007 to 2017 she served on the Appropriations Committee;[1] from 2015 to 2017 she was the committee's chairwoman.[3]

Speaker of the House

Speaker of the House Shap Smith did not run for reelection to his House seat in 2016, and ran instead for the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor.[3][4][5] In November 2016, Johnson was a candidate to succeed Smith as Speaker, as were Sarah Copeland-Hanzas and Charles "Chip" Conquest.[5] Johnson and Copeland-Hanzas became the front runners; by late November, Copeland-Hanzas concluded that Johnson's support among Democratic members of the House was enough to win a contested vote, so she withdrew.[6] In a December 2016 meeting of the Vermont House's Democratic caucus, Copeland-Hanzas nominated Johnson for Speaker, and Johnson was unanimously selected as the Democratic candidate for the position.[3] In the full House's January 2017 election for Speaker, Johnson defeated Republican Linda Myers of Essex.[4]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 "Member Biography, Representative Mitzi Johnson".
  2. 1 2 3 "Taking Matters into Her Own Hands".
  3. 1 2 3 "House Democrats Formally Nominate Johnson for Speaker".
  4. 1 2 "New House Speaker Mitzi Johnson Shifts Committee Jurisdiction".
  5. 1 2 "Three Campaign to Become Speaker of Vermont House".
  6. ↑ "Copeland-Hanzas Steps Aside".

Sources

Internet

Political offices
Preceded by
Shap Smith		 Speaker of the Vermont House of Representatives
2017 – Present 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
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