Bert Johnson (Michigan)
Bert Johnson is a former Democratic member of the Michigan State Senate, representing District 2 from 2011 to 2018. Johnson resigned from his seat on March 2, 2018, after pleading guilty to theft.[1] On April 11, 2017, Johnson was indicted by a federal grand jury on conspiracy and theft charges. Johnson allegedly hired a ghost employee, who did not work, to repay a debt.[2] Read more on the indictment here.
Johnson expressed interest in a Congressional run in 2014 but ultimately ran for and won re-election to the state senate. Johnson served two terms in the Michigan House of Representatives, representing District 5 from 2007 to 2011.[3]
Biography
Johnson graduated from the University of Detroit Jesuit High School and Academy. He studied Criminology and Security Administration at the University of Detroit Mercy. His professional experience includes working as an office manager at his family's law firm and as Chief of Staff to State Representative Bill McConico.
Committee assignments
2017 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:
| Michigan committee assignments, 2017 |
|---|
| • Families, Seniors and Human Services |
| • Insurance |
| • Outdoor Recreation and Tourism |
| • Regulatory Reform |
2015 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Johnson served on the following committees:
| Michigan committee assignments, 2015 |
|---|
| • Families, Seniors and Human Services, Minority Vice Chair |
| • Outdoor Recreation and Tourism, Minority Vice Chair |
| • Regulatory Reform |
| • Agriculture, Minority Vice Chair |
| • Insurance |
2013-2014
At the beginning of the 2013 legislative session, Johnson served on the following committees:
| Michigan committee assignments, 2012 |
|---|
| • Appropriations |
| • Health Policy |
| • Redistricting |
| • Regulatory Reform, Vice chair |
2011-2012
In the 2011-2012 legislative session, Johnson served on the following committees:
| Michigan committee assignments, 2011 |
|---|
| • Appropriation |
| • Redistricting |
| • Regulatory Reform, Vice chair |
2009-2010
In the 2009-2010 legislative session, Johnson served on the following committees:
| Michigan committee assignments, 2009 |
|---|
| • Regulatory Reform, Chair |
| • Banking and Financial Services |
| • Energy and Technology |
| • Health Policy |
| • Public Employee Health Care Reform |
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Elections
2014
State Senate
- See also: Michigan State Senate elections, 2014
Elections for the Michigan State Senate took place in 2014. A primary election was held on August 5, 2014, and a general election took place on November 4, 2014. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was April 22, 2014. Incumbent Bert Johnson defeated Georgia Lemmons, Taras Nykoriak and John Olumba in the Democratic primary. Mark Price was unopposed in the Republican primary. Johnson defeated Price and Jeff Hall (I) in the general election.[4][5][6][7]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic |  Bert Johnson Incumbent |
71.6% | 41,452 | |
| Republican | Mark Price | 24.8% | 14,354 | |
| Independent | Jeff Hall | 3.6% | 2,088 | |
| Total Votes | 57,894 | |||
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
|---|---|---|
|
Bert Johnson Incumbent |
63% | 10,407 |
| John Olumba | 22.2% | 3,663 |
| Georgia Lemmons | 10.5% | 1,733 |
| Taras Nykoriak | 4.4% | 721 |
| Total Votes | 16,524 | |
U.S. House
Johnson planned to run in the 2014 election for the U.S. House to represent Michigan's 14th District.[8] On April 14, 2014, Johnson announced that he was dropping out of the race and would instead seek re-election to his state senate seat.[9]
2012
Johnson ran in the 2012 election for the U.S. House to represent Michigan's 13th District. He was defeated by incumbent John Conyers, Jr. in the Democratic primary on August 7, 2012.[10]
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
|---|---|---|
|
John Conyers, Jr. |
55.4% | 38,371 |
| Glenn Anderson | 18.2% | 12,586 |
| Shanelle Jackson | 12.6% | 8,708 |
| Bert Johnson | 10% | 6,928 |
| John Goci | 3.8% | 2,664 |
| Total Votes | 69,257 | |
2010
- See also: Michigan State Senate elections, 2010
Johnson won election to the 2nd District of the Michigan State Senate in 2010. He defeated Republican Don Chouinard in the November 2 general election.[11]
| Michigan State Senate, District 2 General election (2010) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | |||
| Bert Johnson (D)
|
34,858 | |||
| John Chouinard (R) | 17,459 | |||
2008
On November 4, 2008, Bert Johnson ran unopposed for District 5 of the Michigan House of Representatives.[12]
Bert Johnson raised $47,677 for his campaign.[13]
| Michigan House of Representatives, District 5 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | |||
| Bert Johnson (D)
|
25,595 | |||
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Michigan scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
2018
In 2018, the Michigan State Legislature was in session from January 10 through December 31.
- Legislators and candidates are scored on their economy policy views.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to agriculture.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to environmental issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to environmental issues.
- Legislators are scored on a number of bills selected by the editor of MIRS, a state capitol newsletter.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to conservative issues.
- National Federation of Independent Business in Michigan: 2017-2018 voting record
- Legislators are scored based on their votes on small business issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.
2017
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2017, click [show]. |
|---|
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In 2017, the Michigan State Legislature was in session from January 11 through December 31.
|
2016
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2016, click [show]. |
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In 2016, the Michigan State Legislature was in session from January 13 through December 31.
|
2015
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2015, click [show]. |
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In 2015, the Michigan State Legislature was in session from January 14 through December 17.
|
2014
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2014, click [show]. |
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In 2014, the Michigan State Legislature was in session from January 8 through December 31.
|
2013
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2013, click [show]. |
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In 2013, the Michigan State Legislature was in session from January 9 to December 31.
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2012
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2012, click [show]. |
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In 2012, the Michigan State Legislature was in session from January 11 to December 27.
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2011
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2011, click [show]. |
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In 2011, the Michigan State Legislature was in session from January 12 to December 28.
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Noteworthy events
Grand jury indictment
On April 11, 2017, Johnson was indicted by a federal grand jury on conspiracy and theft charges. According to the indictment, Johnson hired a ghost employee, who did not work, to his Senate payroll to repay a loan. He borrowed over $10,000 in October 2013 from an unnamed co-conspirator and later hired that person to his payroll to repay the debt. The ghost employee was paid $23,134 and worked from March 2014 to January 2015 as a community organizer.[14] If convicted, Johnson could serve up to five years on the conspiracy charge and up to 10 years on the theft charge.[2]
On April 18, 2017, Johnson pleaded not guilty to the charges. He was released on $10,000 bond.[15] Johnson declined to comment on the charges following his arraignment. Johnson's attorney, Cyril Hall, told reporters that, "We totally deny this and we're prepared to litigate the controversy. I assume that this is about an individual who has been implicated in a crime and is trying to minimize their sentence by pointing at somebody else."[16][17]
On July 11, 2017, Cyril Hall, Johnson's attorney, withdrew from the case. John Shea became Johnson's court-appointed attorney on July 13.
On September 27, 2017, a federal judge delayed Johnson's trial until March 12, 2018. It was expected to begin on October 23, 2017.[18]
Johnson resigned from his seat on March 2, 2018, after pleading guilty to theft.[1][19]
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term "Bert + Johnson + Michigan + House"
See also
- Michigan State Legislature
- Michigan State Senate
- Senate Committees
- Michigan state legislative districts
- United States House of Representatives
- Michigan's 14th Congressional District elections, 2014
- Michigan's 14th Congressional District
- Michigan's 13th Congressional District elections, 2012
- Michigan's 13th Congressional District
- Bert Johnson recall, Michigan State Senate (2017)
External links
- Profile from Open States
- Legislative Profile from Project Vote Smart
- Biography from Project Vote Smart
- Michigan Votes - Bert Johnson
- Campaign Contributions: 2012, 2010, 2008, 2006
- Bert Johnson on Facebook
- Bert Johnson on LinkedIn
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Detroit Free Press, "Convicted Michigan lawmaker Bert Johnson quits his Senate seat," March 2, 2018
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Detroit Free Press, "Michigan Sen. Bert Johnson indicted by grand jury," accessed April 12, 2017
- ↑ Detroit Free Press, "Bert Johnson throws hat in the ring for 14th District congressional seat race in 2014," accessed January 14, 2014
- ↑ Michigan Secretary of State, "State Senator," accessed August 6, 2014
- ↑ Michigan Secretary of State, "State Senator," accessed December 5, 2014
- ↑ Michigan Secretary of State, "2014 Official Michigan Primary Candidate Listing," accessed May 27, 2014
- ↑ Michigan Secretary of State, "2014 Official Michigan General Candidate Listing," accessed September 8, 2014
- ↑ Detroit News, "State Sen. Bert Johnson enters race to fill Peters' seat," accessed January 14, 2014 (dead link)
- ↑ Detroit Free Press, "State Sen. Bert Johnson opts for re-election over congressional bid," accessed April 15, 2014
- ↑ Associated Press, "Michigan - Summary Vote Results," accessed May 30, 2014
- ↑ Michigan Secretary of State, "Election Results - General Election - November 02, 2010," March 2, 2011
- ↑ Michigan Secretary of State, "Election Results - General Election - November 04, 2008," accessed May 30, 2014
- ↑ Follow the Money, "Johnson's 2008 campaign contributions," accessed May 30, 2014
- ↑ Detroit News, "Sen. Bert Johnson indicted by federal grand jury," accessed April 12, 2017
- ↑ MLive.com, "State Sen. Bert Johnson pleads not guilty in ghost employee case," accessed April 18, 2016
- ↑ Detroit Free Press, "Michigan Sen. Bert Johnson indicted by grand jury," accessed April 18, 2017
- ↑ The Detroit News, "Mich. Sen. Johnson gets new trial date," August 8, 2017
- ↑ The Detroit News, "Sen. Johnson corruption trial delayed until 2018," September 27, 2017
- ↑ Free Detroit Press, "Special election to replace Bert Johnson's state senate seat set for Aug. 7," March 12, 2018
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by - |
Michigan State Senate District 2 2011-2018 |
Succeeded by Adam Hollier (D) |
