An architect from Savannah, Eric Johnson has helped put Georgia on a solid foundation. As Senate Minority Leader he led Republicans to the majority for the first time in over 130 years. Respected by colleagues, Johnson was then elected Senate President Pro Tempore. In that role he helped pass groundbreaking legislation that reformed state programs, protected citizens, and returned taxpayer money.
A lifelong Republican, Eric got deeply involved in the Party after attending a Chatham County Young Republican meeting with his good friend Jack Kingston in the late 1970's. He was a foot soldier in the Reagan Revolution and helped elect Mack Mattingly to the United States Senate. Eric continued his service as a precinct chairman and a county party chairman. He licked envelopes and put up yard signs for Republican candidates across the state. In 1992, Eric transitioned from volunteer to candidate and was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives.
Eric successfully ran for the State Senate in 1994, the year of Newt Gingrich’s “Contract with America.” He was inspired by the new conservative ideas of a re-emerging national Republican Party and was elected Senate Minority Leader after just two terms. Eric spent the next four years battling with the Barnes Administration and presenting Republican alternatives to the administration’s top-down, heavy-handed style. In 2002, Eric’s dedication paid off as he helped topple the Barnes political machine and elect the first Republican Governor and Republican Majority in the State Senate since Reconstruction.
Johnson’s tenure as Senate President Pro Tem, was marked by major legislative accomplishments and an expanding Republican majority. Eric helped cut taxes, protect private property, reduce frivolous lawsuits, punish dangerous sexual predators, curb illegal immigration, and require a photo ID to vote. As the Senate President Pro Tem and Chairman of the Senate Ethics Committee, Eric was a leader on strengthening Georgia's ethics laws. When he stepped down from leadership in 2009 to run for statewide office, Georgians had fully entrusted Republicans to govern the state, and unlike Republicans in Washington, D.C., Eric and his colleagues had delivered.
Eric Johnson and his wife Kathryn have two children- Righton, an attorney in Atlanta, and Marcus, a pastor in Savannah. Eric has the vision to see beyond the next election cycle and think about the Georgia his two children will inherit. And as Governor, Eric can be trusted to continue getting real results for the people of Georgia based on his common sense conservative principles.
|
|
