Nancy Johnson

 

Nancy Johnson
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Connecticut's 5th district
In office 1983–2007
Preceded by	Jim Maloney
Succeeded by	Chris Murphy
Born	January 05 1935 ( 1935--) (age 72) Chicago, Illinois
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Ted Johnson
Religion	Unitarian Universalist

Nancy Lee Johnson (born January 5 1935, Chicago, Illinois) is an American politician.

Johnson was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from 1983 to 2007, representing first the 6th district and later the 5th District of Connecticut following the elimination of the 6th district.

Early life, education, and early career

Johnson was born in Chicago. She graduated from the University of Chicago Laboratory School (high school) in 1953, and from Radcliffe College in 1957. She attended the University of London's Courtauld Institute in 1957 and 1958.

She was a teacher before serving in the (Connecticut Senate) from 1977 to 1983. She is married to Dr. Theodore Johnson, and has three daughters.

House of Representatives

Elections

Johnson was elected to the House of Representatives in 1982 with 52 percent of the vote, defeating Democrat William E. Curry Jr. She replaced Democrat Anthony "Toby" Moffett, who made an unsuccessful bid for the U.S. Senate that year.

She won narrowly in her re-election bid in 1996, defeating Democrat Charlotte Koskoff 50%-49%. She had won re-elections prior to 2002 with 59 to 74 percent of the vote. She attributed her decreased percentage to the time she had spent on the House ethics panel, dealing with ethics allegations against Speaker Newt Gingrich, which prevented her from getting around in her district. She won in 1998, again against Koskoff, with 59% of the vote, and got 63% of the vote in 2000 against Paul Valenti.

In 2002, the reapportionment process eliminated Connecticut's 6th District and forced a faceoff between Johnson and Democratic Congressman James H. Maloney of the 5th District. Johnson won the general election with 54% of the vote. In 2004, she defeated Democrat Theresa Gerratana, getting 60 percent of the vote.

Ideology

Johnson called herself "an independent voice in Washington", although she frequently supported the mainstream Republican agenda. Some nonpartisan observers such as National Journal rated her near the ideological midpoint in the House, although others, like the American Conservative Union (ACU) rated her as a moderate conservative. The ACU gave Johnson's 2005 voting record 40 points out of 100; the liberal Americans for Democratic Action gave her 35 points.

Johnson is a member of several socially moderate Republican groups including The Wish List, The Republican Main Street Partnership, Republicans for Choice, the Republican Majority for Choice, and Republicans for Environmental Protection, although she has supported many elements of President George W. Bush's agenda and the agenda of conservative House leaders.

In 1998, Johnson voted with House Republicans to impeach then-President Bill Clinton.

In 2003, Johnson voted with the House Democrats to oppose Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act. The bill was passed by a large majority 281-142 on October 2, 2003.

In 2006, she attracted considerable controversy after voting in favor of a Republican budget reconciliation bill that passed the House by two votes, after a number of Republican moderates crossed party lines to side with Democrats against it.

Issues

Johnson is a strong supporter of Republican policy on health care and the Iraq war, but opposed the Bush energy agenda, including oil drilling in the ANWR refuge. She has received favorable marks from such groups as the National Education Association and the Sierra Club.

In 2005, Johnson supported the White House plan to partially privatize Social Security and voted for a measure sponsored by then Majority Leader Tom DeLay that would have weakened House Ethics rules ([1]).

One of Johnson's central issues is health care. She was one of the authors of the Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit program, which took effect in 2006. On May 15, 2006, Johnson announced she will submit legislation to waive penalties for those who miss deadlines to enroll in Medicare Part D, reacting to widespread criticism of the Johnson-authored program. Her bill is supported by the AARP ([2]).

Committees

With the retirement of Ways and Means Committee chairman Bill Thomas (R-CA) at the end of his term, Johnson was a possible candidate to replace him as chairman if Republicans were to retain the House and Johnson retain her seat in the November elections, but that did not happen.

Campaign contributors

Connecticut is a center of the pharmaceutical industry with Pfizer and Bayer operating major facilities in the state. According to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, Johnson has been one of the leading Congressional recipients of contributions from the pharmaceutical industry, receiving $534,830 in related contributions since 2000. [3]

2006 re-election campaign

In the November 2006 general election, Johnson faced Democrat Chris Murphy, a state senator originally elected from the First District town of Southington, Connecticut who now lives in Cheshire. Murphy, 33, has been outspoken in his criticism of Johnson's role in authoring Medicare Part D legislation and for her support of Bush's Iraq policy.

In April 2006, Johnson became the target of a negative ad campaign run by a political action committee, MoveOn.org, which alleged ties to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff and former Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX). Johnson responded with her own advertising campaign dismissing the charges and strongly attacking Murphy, accusing him of not disavowing the MoveOn attack ads.

Johnson had a large cash advantage over her challenger. In April 2006, Johnson reported that she had raised $436,000 in the first quarter of the year, with 60% of that coming from PACs, and 56% from contributors from outside Connecticut[4]. In the second quarter of 2006 she raised almost $800,000, and had cash on hand, as of June 30, 2006, of $2.6 million.[5]

In late October, Chris Murphy had a slight lead, and heading into the election it was projected that he would win by four points. Johnson ultimately lost the race in November to Chris Murphy by 12 points; the only House incumbent to suffer a worse defeat was John Hostettler (IN-08). Local speculation in the Hartford Courant was that Johnson's negative TV ads , which accused Murphy of coddling sex offenders and drug dealers, may have proven counterproductive.

Post-election

Following her career in Congress, in 2007 Johnson became a Resident Fellow at Harvard University's Institute of Politics. [6]

External links

• Official Site
• Campaign website
• Associated Press profile
• Op-ed column
• Nancy Johnson at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Voting record maintained by The Washington Post

Political offices
Preceded by Nicholas Schaus	Republican Party nominee for Connecticut's 6th Congressional District 1982 (won),1984 (won), 1986 (won), 1988 (won), 1990 (won), 1992 (won), 1994 (won), 1996 (won), 1998 (won), 2000 (won)	Succeeded by District eliminated after 2000 census.
Preceded by Toby Moffett	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Connecticut's 6th Congressional District 1983–2003
Preceded by Mark Nielsen	Republican Party nominee for Connecticut's 5th Congressional District 2002 (won), 2004 (won), 2006 (lost)	Succeeded by N/A: Most recent
Preceded by James H. Maloney	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Connecticut's 5th congressional district 2003–2007	Succeeded by Christopher S. Murphy

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