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Dan Johnson (Kentucky city council member)
This article is about Dan Johnson, a former Louisville City Council member who ran in the 2016 primary election for the Kentucky House of Representatives. For people with a similar name, see Dan Johnson.
Dan Johnson was a Democratic member of the Louisville City Council, representing District 21. He was first elected to the council in 2002, and he was removed from office on November 17, 2017. He previously served on the board of aldermen before it was replaced by the city council.
Prior to his removal, Johnson was censured on November 1, 2017, due to multiple allegations of sexual misconduct against him. He reached an agreement with the council to keep his seat, but a three-member panel on the council determined later in the month that he had violated the terms of that agreement and decided to remove him from office.[1] His successor was appointed by a majority vote of the council within 30 days of the removal.
Johnson was also a 2016 Democratic candidate for District 38 of the Kentucky House of Representatives.[2]
Elections
2016
Elections for the Kentucky House of Representatives took place in 2016. The primary election took place on May 17, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was January 26, 2016.
McKenzie Cantrell defeated incumbent Denver "Denny" Butler in the Kentucky House of Representatives District 38 general election.[3][4]
| Kentucky House of Representatives District 38, General Election, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic |  McKenzie Cantrell |
50.87% | 7,600 | |
| Republican | Denver "Denny" Butler Incumbent | 49.13% | 7,341 | |
| Total Votes | 14,941 | |||
| Source: Kentucky State Board of Elections | ||||
McKenzie Cantrell defeated Dan Johnson in the Kentucky House of Representatives District 38 Democratic primary.[5]
| Kentucky House of Representatives District 38, Democratic Primary, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | McKenzie Cantrell |
66.01% | 2,865 | |
| Democratic | Dan Johnson | 33.99% | 1,475 | |
| Total Votes | 4,340 | |||
Incumbent Denver "Denny" Butler ran unopposed in the Kentucky House of Representatives District 38 Republican primary.[6]
| Kentucky House of Representatives District 38, Republican Primary, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | |
| Republican | Denver "Denny" Butler Incumbent (unopposed) | |
2014
The city of Louisville, Kentucky held elections for mayor and city council on November 4, 2014. A primary election took place on May 20, 2014. In the Democratic primary for District 21, Incumbent Dan Johnson defeated Erich V. Shumake and Michael Tackett.[7][8][9] Johnson defeated John A. Witt (I) in the general election.[10]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Dan Johnson Incumbent |
66.5% | 3,617 | |
| Independent | John A. Witt | 28% | 1,525 | |
| Other | Write-in | 5.4% | 295 | |
| Total Votes | 5,437 | |||
| Source: Jefferson County Clerk's Office - 2014 General Election Results | ||||
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Dan Johnson Incumbent |
70.7% | 939 | ||
| Erich V. Shumake | 29.3% | 390 | ||
| Total Votes | 1,329 | |||
| Source: Jefferson County Clerk - Official primary election results |
||||
Noteworthy events
Expulsion from council following sexual harassment and misconduct charges (2017)
On November 17, 2017, a three-member panel on the city council voted to remove Johnson from office. He had previously reached an agreement with the city council’s metro court on November 1, which censured him for his conduct but permitted him to remain on the council until the end of his term in 2018. The panel determined that he violated the agreement by being present at City Hall when he was not permitted and making statements contrary to the agreement. Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer announced his support for the panel's decision and said, "Our community must have confidence that harassment and discrimination of any kind is not tolerated. I appreciate the Council for its deliberation and insistence on member accountability." Prior to the panel's vote, Johnson stated that he would appeal the decision in circuit court, although he had previously agreed not to do so.[1]
The November 1 agreement had been announced the same day that the court began proceedings to determine whether he should be removed from his position. The metro court, which is a subgroup of Louisville’s 26-member city council, convened to determine whether to expel Johnson for misconduct after he faced multiple accusations of sexual harassment and other charges of improper behavior. The agreement placed specific restrictions on Johnson, including allowing him to visit city hall only for council meetings, preventing him from attending ceremonial functions except in his own district, and requiring that he not run for re-election in 2018. Johnson’s attorneys argued that conducting the removal proceedings would be expensive to the city and that they would appeal any expulsion decision, which would likely delay his removal from council until the end of his term anyway. Opponents of the agreement, including the council members who accused Johnson of harassment, argued that allowing him to stay in his position was wrong and made them feel unsafe.[11]
On August 10, 2017, the Louisville Metro Council formed a charging committee to remove Johnson (D) from the council for “misconduct, incapacity and willful neglect in the performance of duties of his office.” The charging committee report also referred to Johnson's writing of bad checks in the past, as well as criticism of Johnson for not determining that a former aide had been fired from a previous job for allegedly using racial slurs. Johnson had previously announced on June 14, 2017, that he would not seek re-election in 2018 after two separate allegations of sexual harassment were made against him. Johnson stated at that time that the incidents were accidental and he agreed to seek counseling. Johnson has also stated in interviews that he suffered a brain injury when he was younger and alleged that that could be the cause of some of the incidents.
In July 2017, the council’s Democratic caucus voted to expel Johnson from that body and asked him to resign by August 1. Because Johnson did not resign by that date, the formation of the charging committee represented the beginning of formal removal proceedings.[12][13]
Bad checks
In August 2014, it was reported that Johnson had written two bad checks to the city of Louisville in relation to his personal use of a city-issued cell-phone. One check was for $200. The other was for $300. These reports followed allegations earlier in the month that Johnson was already facing two financial lawsuits: one from a local businessman, who was suing Johnson for failing to pay back an $8,000 debt; another from a local jewelry company, who claimed that Johnson wrote a bad check for $2,600. The alleged bad checks and lawsuits raised concerns among some Louisville voters that Johnson's personal finances might interfere with his responsibilities as a member of city council. To address the problem, Johnson requested from city council an audit of his office accounts in August.[14]
Recent news
See also
- Louisville, Kentucky
- Louisville, Kentucky city council elections, 2014
- United States municipal elections, 2014
- Kentucky House of Representatives
- Kentucky House of Representatives District 38
- Kentucky House of Representatives elections, 2016
- Kentucky State Legislature
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Louisville Courier Journal, "Dan Johnson kicked off Metro Council for breaking sexual harassment deal," November 17, 2017
- ↑ Kentucky Secretary of State, "Candidate Filings with the Office of the Secretary of State," accessed January 25, 2016
- ↑ Kentucky Secretary of State, "Candidate Filings with the Office of the Secretary of State," accessed August 17, 2016
- ↑ Kentucky State Board of Elections, "2016 General Election Results," accessed November 25, 2016
- ↑ Kentucky Secretary of State, "Candidate Filings with the Office of the Secretary of State," accessed January 26, 2016
- ↑ Kentucky Secretary of State, "Candidate Filings with the Office of the Secretary of State," accessed January 26, 2016
- ↑ Kentucky State Board of Elections, "2014 Kentucky Election Calendar," accessed January 31, 2014
- ↑ Louisville/Jefferson County Election Center, "Jefferson County Candidate Filings," accessed January 31, 2014
- ↑ Louisville/Jefferson County Election Center, "Unofficial primary election results," accessed May 20, 2014
- ↑ Jefferson County Clerk, "Official general election results," November 4, 2014
- ↑ Insider Louisville, "Council Court votes for settlement that will keep Dan Johnson in office," November 1, 2017
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedNoRelect - ↑ Insider Louisville, "Metro Council members form committee to try ousting Councilman Dan Johnson," August 10, 2017
- ↑ WFPL, "Louisville Councilman Dan Johnson Twice Wrote City Hot Checks for Metro Cell Phone," August 14, 2014
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by - |
Louisville City Council District 21 2003-2017 |
Succeeded by Vitalis Lanshima |
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State of Kentucky Frankfort (capital) |
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