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Lon Johnson

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Lon Johnson
Image of Lon Johnson
Elections and appointments
Last election

November 8, 2016

Contact

Lon Johnson was a 2016 Democratic candidate who sought election to the U.S. House to represent the 1st Congressional District of Michigan.[1][2]

In 2012, Johnson was a 2012 Democratic candidate for District 103 of the Michigan House of Representatives.

Biography

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In 2005, Johnson served in a civilian capacity in Iraq. He also has invested in and promoted U.S. manufacturing businesses.[3] He served as chairman of the Democratic Party of Michigan from 2013 through 2015.

Johnson and his wife, Julianna Smoot, live in Kalkaska County, Michigan.[4]

Elections

2016

See also: Michigan's 1st Congressional District election, 2016

Michigan's 1st Congressional District was a battleground district in 2016. Incumbent Dan Benishek (R), who began serving in Congress in 2010, left his seat open by choosing not to seek re-election in 2016. Jack Bergman (R), a retired USMC general, defeated Michigan Democratic Party leader Lon Johnson (D), Diane Bostow (L), and Ellis Boal (G) in the general election on November 8, 2016. Bergman defeated Tom Casperson, a state senator, and Jason Allen, a former state senator in the Republican primary. On the Democratic side, Johnson defeated former Kalkaska County Sheriff Jerry Cannon to win the nomination. The primary elections took place on August 2, 2016.[5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14]

U.S. House, Michigan District 1 General Election, 2016
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark transparent.pngJack Bergman 54.9% 197,777
     Democratic Lon Johnson 40.1% 144,334
     Libertarian Diane Bostow 3.7% 13,386
     Green Ellis Boal 1.3% 4,774
Total Votes 360,271
Source: Michigan Secretary of State


U.S. House, Michigan District 1 Democratic Primary, 2016
Candidate Vote % Votes
Green check mark transparent.pngLon Johnson 71.6% 31,677
Jerry Cannon 28.4% 12,539
Total Votes 44,216
Source: Michigan Secretary of State


U.S. House, Michigan District 1 Republican Primary, 2016
Candidate Vote % Votes
Green check mark transparent.pngJack Bergman 38.6% 33,632
Tom Casperson 31.9% 27,813
Jason Allen 29.4% 25,607
Total Votes 87,052
Source: Michigan Secretary of State

Johnson was one of the initial members of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's Red to Blue Program. The program "highlights top Democratic campaigns across the country, and offers them financial, communications, grassroots, and strategic support."[15]

2012

See also: Michigan House of Representatives elections, 2012

Johnson ran in the 2012 election for Michigan House of Representatives District 103. He defeated Frank T. Izworski in the August 7 Democratic primary and was defeated by incumbent Bruce Rendon (R) in the general election, which took place on November 6, 2012.[16][17]

Michigan House of Representatives, District 103, General Election, 2012
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark transparent.pngBruce Rendon Incumbent 52.8% 23,308
     Democratic Lon Johnson 47.2% 20,832
Total Votes 44,140
Michigan House of Representatives, District 103 Democratic Primary, 2012
Candidate Vote % Votes
Green check mark transparent.pngLon Johnson 79.3% 3,728
Frank Izworski 20.7% 971
Total Votes 4,699

Campaign themes

2016

The following issues were listed on Johnson's campaign website. For a full list of campaign themes, click here.

  • Don’t Privatize Social Security and Medicare: As your congressman, I will defend these programs from politicians like Jack Bergman who want to sell out our seniors and send their Social Security and Medicare dollars to Wall Street. I will speak out and speak up for seniors. I will protect, preserve and strengthen Medicare and Social Security by supporting legislation that enhances these programs in the best interests of today’s seniors and future generations as well. Seniors who have paid into these programs their entire lives have earned those benefits upon their retirement.
  • Strengthening our Economy: Nationally, the economy continues to slowly recover from the Great Recession. Here in the U.P. and Northern Michigan, we’ve seen positive signs of job growth, but we still rank relatively low compared to the rest of the nation. We still have a long way to go in order to rebuild our economy.
  • Respecting and Helping our Veterans: Veterans have served and sacrificed for our country. But too many veterans today are being denied the basic services they have earned and been promised. Further, many veterans suffer from mental and physical disabilities received serving our country. Too many veterans remain jobless and homeless. Our elected officials have a responsibility to serve our veterans and ensure that the nation pays them back for their service.
  • Rejecting the Trans-Pacific Partnership: Northern Michigan already has to compete to keep jobs here. The TPP would force us to compete with other countries which lack laws regarding workers’ rights, environmental protections and wages that are as low as $1 per hour. As your congressman I will fight against this disastrous trade deal...
  • The need for high-speed internet: Forty percent of the businesses across the state that want high speed internet service don’t have access to it, putting them at a competitive disadvantage. But the problem is even more acute in the Upper Peninsula, where broadband isn’t widely available. This is not acceptable.

[18]

Lon Johnson's campaign website

2012

Johnson's website highlighted the following campaign themes:[19]

  • Excerpt: "Create a Northern Michigan where our families can stay and succeed"
  • Excerpt: "Keep Northern Michigan both beautiful and profitable"
  • Excerpt: "Re-build our government to become as hardworking, open and honest as the people who pay for it."

Campaign finance summary

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Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Lon Johnson Michigan Congress. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. WMUK, "Michigan Democratic Party Leader Could Run for Congress," June 22, 2015
  2. MLIVE, "Michigan Political Points: Lon Johnson, Brandon Dillon and big moves for Dems ahead of 2016," June 27, 2015
  3. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named campaign
  4. Lon Johnson for U.S. Congress, "About Lon," accessed November 10, 2015
  5. Interlochen Public Radio, "U.S. Rep. Dan Benishek says he's running again in 2016," March 24, 2015
  6. Detroit Free Press, "Benishek abruptly announces retirement at end of term," September 15, 2015
  7. WMUK, "Michigan Democratic Party Leader Could Run for Congress," June 22, 2015
  8. Facebook, "Mobile Uploads," August 23, 2015
  9. Up Matters, "It's official: Casperson to run for U.S. House of Representatives," November 9, 2015
  10. MLive, "Former Sen. Jason Allen to run for Michigan's 1st congressional district," January 14, 2016
  11. WBKB-TV, "USMC retiree announces candidacy for MI 1st Congressional District seat," March 3, 2016
  12. Politico, "Michigan House Primaries Results," August 2, 2016
  13. Michigan Secretary of State, "2016 Michigan Candidate Listing," accessed September 6, 2016
  14. CNN, "Election Results," accessed November 8, 2016
  15. DCCC, "DCCC Chairman Luján Announces First 31 Districts In Red To Blue Program," February 11, 2016
  16. Michigan Department of State, "2012 Official Michigan Primary Candidate Listing," accessed June 6, 2012
  17. Associated Press, "Michigan - Summary Vote Results," accessed August 7, 2012
  18. Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  19. Lon Johnson's campaign website, "Home", accessed October 15, 2012


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