Jeff Johnson (Minnesota)

Jeff Johnson

Nonpartisan

Prior offices

Minnesota House of Representatives

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Hennepin County Commission District 7

Successor: Kevin Anderson

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Report an officeholder change

Elections and appointments

Last election

November 6, 2018

Education

High school

Detroit Lakes High School

Bachelor's

Concordia College

Law

Georgetown Law School

Contact

Campaign Facebook

Personal Facebook

Personal Twitter

Jeff Johnson was a member of the Hennepin County Commission in Minnesota, representing District 7. Johnson assumed office in 2009. Johnson left office on January 4, 2021.

Johnson (Republican Party) ran for election for Governor of Minnesota. Johnson lost in the general election on November 6, 2018.

Biography

Johnson was born in Detroit Lakes, Minn. After graduating from Georgetown Law School in 1992, Johnson worked for several law firms and for Cargill, Inc. He founded Midwest Employment Resources after leaving Cargill, Inc. Johnson is married to Sondi Johnson. They live in Plymouth, Minnesota with their two sons, Thor and Rolf.

Education

• Detroit Lakes High School (1985)
• Bachelor's from Concordia College (1989)
• J.D. from Georgetown Law School (1992)

Elections

2018

See also: Minnesota gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2018

See also: Minnesota gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2018 (August 14 Republican primary)

General election

General election for Governor of Minnesota

Tim Walz defeated Jeff Johnson, Chris Wright, and Josh Welter in the general election for Governor of Minnesota on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Tim Walz (D)	53.8	1,393,096
		Jeff Johnson (R)	42.4	1,097,705
		Chris Wright (Grassroots Party)	2.7	68,667
	Submit photo	Josh Welter (L)	1.0	26,735
		Other/Write-in votes	0.0	1,084

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 2,587,287 (100.00% precincts reporting)
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Christopher Seymore (Independent)

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Governor of Minnesota

Tim Walz defeated Erin Murphy, Lori Swanson, Tim Holden, and Ole Savior in the Democratic primary for Governor of Minnesota on August 14, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Tim Walz	41.6	242,832
		Erin Murphy	32.0	186,969
		Lori Swanson	24.6	143,517
		Tim Holden	1.1	6,398
		Ole Savior	0.7	4,019

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 583,735
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Tina Liebling (D)

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Governor of Minnesota

Jeff Johnson defeated Tim Pawlenty and Matt Kruse in the Republican primary for Governor of Minnesota on August 14, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jeff Johnson	52.6	168,841
		Tim Pawlenty	43.9	140,743
	Submit photo	Matt Kruse	3.5	11,330

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 320,914
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Nikolay Nikolayevich Bey (R)
• Bob Carney Jr. (R)
• Christopher Chamberlin (R)

2014

See also: Minnesota gubernatorial election, 2014

Governor and Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota, 2014
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Mark Dayton/Tina Smith Incumbent	50.1%	989,113
	Republican	Jeff Johnson/Bill Kuisle	44.5%	879,257
	Independence	Hannah Nicollet/Tim Gieseke	2.9%	56,900
	Grassroots Party	Chris Wright/David Daniels	1.6%	31,259
	Libertarian	Chris Holbrook/Chris Dock	0.9%	18,082
	Nonpartisan	Write-in votes	0.1%	1,134
Total Votes				1,975,745
Election results via Minnesota Secretary of State

Governor and Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota, Republican Primary, 2014
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Jeff Johnson/Bill Kuisle	30.3%	55,836
Kurt Zellers/Dean Simpson	23.9%	44,046
Marty Seifert/Pam Myhra	21.1%	38,851
Scott Honour/Karin Housley	20.8%	38,377
Merrill Anderson/Mark Anderson	3.8%	7,000
Total Votes		184,110
Election results via Minnesota Secretary of State.

2012

Johnson was re-elected Hennepin County Commissioner in 2012.

2008

Johnson was elected Hennepin county Commissioner in 2008.

2006

Johnson ran unsuccessfully for Attorney General of Minnesota.

2000

Johnson was elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives in 2000. He was elected Assistant Majority Leader. He also served as Chairman of the Civil Law and Elections Committee and the House Republican Steering Committee.

Campaign themes

2018

Campaign website

Johnson's campaign website stated the following:

“	My Principles I believe that government can only exercise authority granted to it in the Constitution. I believe that people make better decisions about how to spend the money they earn than government. I support school choice and the empowerment of parents to control the education of their children. I believe the right to keep and bear arms for personal protection is a fundamental individual right. I am pro-life. My Christian faith guides every decision I make. Taxes & Spending Government’s appetite for overspending in Minnesota goes hand in hand with the desire to push government programs and regulations into every corner of our lives. I believe we need to cut taxes and reduce the size and power of government. We’ll start by cutting income taxes, the death tax and license tab fees, ending the taxation of social security benefits and instituting an Automatic Taxpayer Refund when government over-taxes Minnesotans. Taxes and spending issues are not only economic, they are moral. Empowering Minnesotans starts with us deciding how our hard-earned money is spent--not government. Reducing spending levels and increasing take-home pay will result in a badly needed explosion of economic activity, growth, and opportunity. Jobs All Minnesotans deserve an economy where hard work is the only limit to success. The way to achieve this is to create an environment that encourages our small-business owners and embraces both the jobs of today and tomorrow. Our government has failed miserably to do this and instead has been a direct obstacle--this changes on Day One of the Johnson Administration. Whether it’s taxes, regulations or a government attitude of helping rather than antagonizing job creators, I will work every day as your governor to make Minnesota’s business climate competitive with those states that surround us. Government Reform Our state desperately needs a fundamental change in the size, scope, and philosophy of government. In short, this means taking power away from government and giving it back to the people of Minnesota. We must--and will--create a mindset in government that it is a servant of the people, not the other way around. This will have a lasting, positive impact on Minnesota for generations. Achieving this fundamental change will be the overriding mission of the Johnson Administration. As a start, I will push for term limits, initiate a top-to-bottom audit of the programs Minnesota taxpayers fund and veto any omnibus bill that does not adhere to the single-subject rule. And most importantly, we will rein in arrogant state agencies like the DNR, MPCA and every other bureaucracy that doesn't understand they exist to serve us, not control us. K-12 Education I believe that parents, not the state or the education unions, are the best decision-makers when it comes to the education of a child. We must empower parents to make those decisions and allow teachers the freedom to teach without unending interference from politicians. To begin this process, we will radically simplify our K-12 education funding formula, start to eliminate some of the many state mandates on our schools and teachers, and do everything possible to allow real education choice for every parent in Minnesota. As governor, I will confront head-on the political indoctrination of our kids in some of our public schools. The Constitution The state and federal constitutions are not lists of suggestions, but the concrete operating rules for our government. I view the Constitution as my job description as governor. Healthcare Between the skyrocketing cost of health insurance and the declining lack of access in Greater Minnesota, nearly every Minnesota family has been increasingly impacted. MNsure has been a complete disaster and has proven that new approaches are desperately needed. I will work to return the power over health care to patients and citizens, and take advantage of federal waivers allowing Minnesota to abandon the provisions of Obamacare that have limited choice and increased costs. I will also start negotiating with other Midwestern states to increase competition by creating an interstate compact to sell and buy insurance across state lines. Transportation Transportation is the lifeblood of Minnesota’s economy and also directly impacts quality of life. By employing common sense and long-term planning there is no reason we can’t achieve great roads and solve our broader transportation issues without breaking the bank. The Johnson Administration will put a moratorium on light rail and focus transit money on a first-class bus system. In the Metro, I’ll base my transportation funding decisions on projects that relieve congestion and provide mobility to the citizens of Minnesota. Life There is no more important issue than protecting innocent life. Not only is this a moral issue, recent breakthroughs in science and technology have made even more clear that we must protect the life of the unborn. I am Pro-Life and believe in the sanctity of human life from conception to natural death. Immigration Though hard to believe, the DFL candidates for governor support the concept of "sanctuary cities" and, in fact, want to make Minnesota a "sanctuary state." This would mean that local law enforcement would be prohibited from working with federal agents tasked with enforcing our country's immigration laws. I will not allow Minnesota to become a sanctuary state and will work with the legislature to ban sanctuary cities in Minnesota. The federal refugee resettlement program in Minnesota has become very divisive and problematic. Minnesota has been extremely open to refugees in recent years: Minnesota has 2% of the nation's population, but 13% of the nation's refugees. In addition, in the most recent two-year period, Minnesota's secondary refugee migration (those who came first to another state but moved to Minnesota) was greater than all 49 other states combined. And the cost to communities has been very substantial. For these reasons I have called for an IMMEDIATE STOP to the refugee resettlement program in Minnesota. As governor, I will meet with President Trump and Attorney General Sessions to explain this situation in detail and inform them that our participation in the program will end until we tell them otherwise. Public Safety The role of government in our lives should be as limited as possible, but providing for the public safety of all Minnesotans is one of the most important jobs of government. While I have always supported alternatives to incarceration for low-level, nonviolent offenders and believe strongly in providing second chances for those who make mistakes, we have one of the lowest incarceration rates in the country and violent criminals must be locked up and very violent criminals must be locked up for a very long time. Under my administration, Minnesota will be a safe place for law-abiding citizens and a terrible place for violent criminals. Agriculture and Natural Resources Minnesota’s economy was built on agriculture and our natural resources. That’s not to say that farming, logging and mining are the only parts of the economy that matter, but they provide the rock-solid foundation upon which many other industries have been built. Yet government is doing little but getting in the way of people who work the land. Government permitting too often harasses farmers, miners lose jobs because of bureaucrats and regulations and loggers often are treated as pariahs. I grew up in rural Minnesota. I know what a blessing our natural resources are, and that the people whose livelihoods depend upon using them are better stewards of the land than any bureaucrat in St. Paul. I believe we can have copper/nickel mining in Northern Minnesota AND protect our environment. I'll be an advocate as governor to move these projects forward. Second Amendment The U.S. Constitution is unequivocal: “A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” Self-defense is a fundamental individual right and creating new “gun control” restrictions on law-abiding citizens will only leave guns in the hands of criminals. Metropolitan Council I’m on the ground fighting the Met Council every single day on the Hennepin County Board. The damage this organization does is not hypothetical to me and I will work aggressively to eliminate it entirely and start over with a limited regional body (without taxing authority) to coordinate sewer and water service lines and an integrated bus system. We cannot “tinker” with the Met Council. It must go.	”
—Johnson for Governor

Campaign advertisements

The following is an example of an ad from Johnson's 2018 election campaign.

"Better" - Johnson ad, released October 23, 2018

2014

Campaign website

Johnson's campaign website listed the following themes for the 2014 race:

“	Minnesota is the greatest place to live in America. That’s why Sondi and I came back to our home state after spending a few years away after college graduation. We wanted to start our careers here, serve our communities here and raise our kids here. I’m very concerned about the direction our state is headed right now. I worry that Minnesota’s greatness is in jeopardy. Here are the issues I’m most concerned with in the State of Minnesota: Taxes/Spending Taxes are a necessary evil, but they are simply too high in Minnesota. Governor Dayton’s appetite for higher taxes goes hand in hand with his desire to push government programs and regulation into every corner of our lives. I believe we need to cut taxes and reduce the size and scope of government. We also need to stop wasting the taxpayers’ money. I will initiate a top-to-bottom audit of the programs that Minnesota taxpayers fund. We will celebrate those that can prove they produce the results we claim to want; we will end those that cannot. From the first day I am in office to the day I leave, I will work to put government back into its place as a servant of the citizens, not their master. K-12 Education I believe that parents, NOT the state or the education unions, are the best decision-makers when it comes to the education of a child. Minnesota has the highest achievement gap between white students and students of color in the nation. That is shameful and I will take that issue head-on. We need to hit the reset button and make our education system work for every child. To do this we must reform our system to have the money follow the child to any school option their parents choose as the best choice for their child. I also believe that the federal government has no business in our K-12 education decisions in Minnesota and will reject programs like Common Core and No Child Left Behind. The strings attached to federal money for such programs are much more costly to our children and our state’s bottom line than whatever the federal government provides. Health Care MNSure, Governor Dayton’s version of Obamacare, is a disaster and should be repealed. Patients consulting with their doctors, not government bureaucrats or insurance companies, should make their own health care decisions. When government stands between people and their doctors, nothing good will come of it. Government has been messing up health care for decades, and Obamacare will break the system altogether if we don’t get rid of it. I will work to eliminate MNsure and move toward a market-based healthcare system in Minnesota where consumers have more options and government is not making decisions for patients and doctors. Family Issues I believe that parents know best how to raise their children and that government should not undermine their right to do so. I am Pro-Life and believe in the sanctity of human life from conception to natural death. I also support traditional marriage between a man and a woman. Transportation Our main focus should be on that form of transportation upon which every Minnesotan relies – roads and bridges. When making transportation funding decisions, I will focus first on the infrastructure we already have in place to make certain it is adequate, safe and in good repair. Where alternative modes of transportation are necessary, I will focus on bus systems over the poor investment of rail or streetcars. Finally, I will base my transportation bonding decisions (at least in the Metro) on projects that relieve congestion and provide mobility to the citizens of Minnesota. Agriculture and Natural Resources Minnesota’s economy was largely built on agriculture and our natural resources. Farming, logging, and mining provide the rock-solid foundation upon which many other industries have been built. Unfortunately, government is getting in the way of people who work the land. Excessive government regulations and bureaucracy too often harass farmers, cause miners to lose jobs, and loggers are often treated as pariahs. I grew up in rural Minnesota. I know what a blessing our natural resources are. I believe the people whose livelihood depends upon using those natural resources are better stewards of the land than any bureaucrat in St Paul. Second Amendment The United States Constitution is unequivocal: “A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” What could be clearer than that? Self-defense is a fundamental individual right. The democrats’ desire to create new “gun control” restrictions on law-abiding citizens will only leave guns in the hands of criminals. I will protect your second amendment rights. The Constitution The state and federal constitutions are not lists of suggestions, but the concrete operating rules for our government. I view the Constitution as my job description as governor. That means that the right to be free means the right to be free, the right to religious liberty means the right to religious liberty and the right to bear arms means the right to bear arms. Specifically, the Minnesota Constitution makes clear that the legislature can’t pass “omnibus” bills covering more than one subject—and I will enforce that by vetoing any bill that bundles unrelated issues into a garbage bill. People should know what their legislators are voting for and be able to hold them accountable. Metropolitan Council There has been a lot of talk (and promises) about the Met Council in the race for governor. As I have said repeatedly since day one in this race, I could not agree more with the idea of disbanding the Met Council. I do believe that it should be replaced with a limited regional body (without taxing authority) to coordinate sewer and water service lines and possibly an integrated bus service, but elimination of the current body will always be the first goal. If I were to make the campaign promise “I will eliminate the Met Council,” however, I would be more than a bit disingenuous. The governor cannot disband the Met Council without a vote of the legislature and that is not going to happen with a DFL Senate, which is not up for re-election until 2016. So, better than a promise impossible to keep is a plan. I will first always work toward elimination of the Met Council, but understanding the political will won’t be there for at least two years to do so, I will 1) remove every member of the organization and appoint members who share my vision of the very limited role of the agency; 2) support structural reforms that dramatically scale back the scope of Met Council activities and remove its authority to tax; and 3) use the “bully pulpit” of the governor’s office to educate Minnesotans about the benefits of local control versus big government mandates, and the importance of sovereignty and private property. Angry rhetoric by candidates about the Met Council is fine, but I’m on the ground fighting the Met Council every single day on the Hennepin County Board. I know first-hand the damage that organization does and will work aggressively as governor to close it down. I will never, however, knowingly make a promise that I cannot keep.	”
—Jeff Johnson's campaign website, (2014)

Campaign finance summary

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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.

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Jeff Johnson campaign contribution history

Year	Office	Status	Contributions	Expenditures
2014	Governor of Minnesota*	Lost	$1,596,588	N/A**
Grand total			$1,596,588	N/A**
Sources: OpenSecrets,  Federal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
Note: Totals above reflect only available data.

Recent news

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

Jeff Johnson (Minnesota) - Google News

See also

• Governor of Minnesota
• Minnesota gubernatorial election, 2018

External links

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Candidate

Governor of Minnesota

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