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Rob Johnson (Texas)

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Rob Johnson
Rob Johnson (Influencers).jpg
Basic facts
Organization:Johnson Strategies
Role:Founder
Location:Austin, Texas
Affiliation:Republican
Education:Southern Methodist University

Rob Johnson is a Republican political strategist in Texas.

  • During the 2016 cycle, Johnson was a strategist for Rick Perry's 2016 presidential campaign and Carly Fiorina's.[1] [2]
  • Johnson also worked on Perry's 2012 presidential campaign after stepping down as the campaign manager on Newt Gingrich's 2012 presidential run.
  • He began his career with former Texas Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst (R) before moving to manage Perry's 2010 gubernatorial re-election.[3]

    • Career

    Early career

    In 2002, Rob Johnson ran the campaign for Texas Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst (R) and served as chief of staff for Dewhurst after his election.[4] After spending eight years as Dewhurst's chief of staff, Johnson moved to Perry's gubernatorial campaign in 2010.[5] Upon hiring Johnson, according to the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, "Perry called Johnson one of the most respected political strategists he knows."[6] Perry's campaign took an approach that went against Texas campaigning tradition, according to Fox News. Rather than spend money on yard signs and direct mail, the Perry campaign devised strategies on the belief that "impersonal voter contact mattered less than personal interaction."[7] Perry won the election with 55 percent of the vote.

    Presidential election, 2012

    Newt Gingrich

    In May 2011, Johnson joined Newt Gingrich's (R) presidential campaign as campaign manager. Johnson had been advising Gingrich for about six weeks before he became campaign manager. Gingrich press secretary Rick W. Tyler said that Johnson's "special strength is how to harness the Internet for modern campaigns. He did that in Texas and he will have the same capability for Gingrich nationally."[8] Citing concerns over Gingrich's commitment to "time to the grassroots," Johnson and other staffers left the Gingrich campaign in June 2011. The Washington Post reported, "Among the issues leading to the resignations, according to knowledgeable sources, was the two-week vacation that Gingrich and his wife, Callista, insisted upon taking against the advice of his top political staff."[9] Real Clear Politics reported that Johnson and another staffer, Sam Dawson, "told Gingrich he deserved to run the type of campaign he wanted and believed in—but it wasn’t a campaign they would be part of."[10]

    Rick Perry

    Perry joined the presidential race in August 2011, and Johnson was announced as campaign manager on September 2, 2011.[11][12] After Perry lost an early lead in the polls, the campaign hired Joe Allbaugh, a longtime Texas political consultant, to help the candidate. According to the Texas Tribune, Allbaugh demoted Johnson after being hired. The paper reported that Johnson was criticized for having "failed to provide timely talking points and messaging, mainly to counter the damaging perception that Perry was weak on immigration after his botched debate answer that critics of giving in-state tuition to illegal immigrants were heartless."[13]

    After the 2012 presidential campaign, Johnson discussed his decision to switch from the Gingrich campaign back to Perry, as well as the challenges of Perry's campaign:[14]

    “ Governor Perry had been dogged and absolute in his comments publicly that he was not going to run for president and privately, behind closed doors. I mean, I walked into his office and told him about the Newt Gingrich offer and I said, 'If there is a chance that you're going to run at all, I'm not going to do it.' And he said, 'I don't know how you say 'no,' Rob, I'm not running, go.' He really was not running for president. So part of the daunting part was just getting everything together in weeks, a month, two months, a very short amount of time and building out a network.[15] ”

    Political advising

    After Perry dropped out of the presidential race, Johnson established and worked as the executive director of the Texas Conservatives Fund, a super PAC in support of David Dewhurst's (R) U.S. Senate campaign.[5] Dewhurst lost the primary election to Ted Cruz (R).[16] Johnson also established his own consulting firm, Johnson Strategies, in 2012.[17] In addition to continued advising of Perry, Johnson also worked as a general consultant to Glenn Hegar's (R) 2013 campaign for Texas comptroller.[18]

    Presidential election, 2016

    Rick Perry

    See also: Rick Perry presidential campaign, 2016

    For the 2016 election cycle, Johnson began working with Rick Perry at RickPAC, Perry's leadership PAC.[19] Perry announced his presidential run on June 4, 2015.[20] Johnson then became a senior strategist for the campaign.[1]

    Perry suspended his presidential campaign on September 11, 2015.[21]

    Carly Fiorina

    See also: Carly Fiorina presidential campaign, 2016

    When Johnson joined the Fiorina campaign in early December 2015, he said, "I think Carly has a blueprint to take back our country and address serious challenges facing our nation. She’s a credible outsider with the experience to be president." He served the Fiorina campaign as a senior advisor.[2]

    After placing seventh in the New Hampshire primary, Fiorina suspended her campaign on February 10, 2016.[22]

    See also

    External links

    Footnotes

    1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 P2016, "Perry for President, Inc.," accessed June 15, 2015
    2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 National Review, "Rob Johnson, Former Perry Staffer, Joins Fiorina Campaign", December 9, 2015
    3. ↑ The Texas Tribune, "Tribpedia: Rob Johnson," accessed June 15, 2015
    4. ↑ New York Times, "Perry’s Legion: The Folks Behind the Man," July 30, 2011
    5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 The Texas Tribune, "Perry Campaign Manager to Head Dewhurst Super PAC," February 7, 2012
    6. ↑ Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, "Hutchison announces campaign fundraising total so far this year," July 14, 2009
    7. ↑ Fox News, "Inside Rick Perry’s Campaign Strategy: How it Worked in His Race for Governor and Why it Might Work in His Race for President," August 11, 2011
    8. ↑ Center for Public Integrity, "Gingrich selects Rob Johnson as campaign manager for presidential bid," May 6, 2011
    9. ↑ Washington Post, "Gingrich presidential campaign implodes," June 9, 2011
    10. ↑ Real Clear Politics, "The Story Behind Gingrich's Greek Cruise," December 28, 2011
    11. ↑ CBS News, "Rick Perry to run for president, spokesman says," August 11, 2011
    12. ↑ P2012, "Gov. Rick Perry Announces Top Members of Presidential Campaign Staff," September 2, 2011
    13. ↑ KUT, "Joe Allbaugh at Center of Perry Campaign Drama," January 23, 2012
    14. ↑ The John F. Kennedy School of Government Institute of Politics at Harvard University. (2013). Campaign for President: The managers look at 2012. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. (page 22)
    15. ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
    16. ↑ New York Times, "Election 2012," accessed June 15, 2015
    17. ↑ LinkedIn, "Rob Johnson," accessed May 25, 2016
    18. ↑ The Dallas Morning News, "Hegar staffs up his bid for comptroller," August 9, 2013
    19. ↑ Washington Examiner, "Rick Perry expands team, hires conservative liaison," March 16, 2015
    20. ↑ CNN, "Rick Perry launches comeback White House bid," June 4, 2015
    21. ↑ Washington Post, "Rick Perry suspends presidential bid," September 11, 2015
    22. ↑ NPR, "Carly Fiorina Ends Bid For Republican Presidential Nomination," February 10, 2016
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