Tim Johnson was a longtime Republican politician in the State of Illinois, including spending more than a decade as a member of the United States House of Representatives.
He shouldn't be confused with another Tim Johnson, who was a U.S. senator during the other's entire Congressional career. Both were well-known moderates in Congress. But the latter was a Democrat from South Dakota who became chairman of the Senate Banking Committee. But, though different, the Tim Johnson of Illinois would accomplish a number of achievements himself. Many of which have been being reminisced about recently.
Passed away on May 9, 2022
Tim Johnson has died, report The News-Gazette and Vermilion County First. A cause of death was not immediately announced to the public. Tributes quickly came following the news of Johnson's death, including from current Illinois U.S. Representative Mary Miller, also a Republican.
Johnson's first election victory came in 1971. It was then that he won a seat on the Urbana City Council. Five years later, he was first elected to the Illinois House of Representatives. Johnson would remain a member of the state legislature for well over 20 years.
In 2000, Johnson was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from the 15th District of Illinois. The incumbent, Republican Thomas W.
Ewing, was not running for re-election. Johnson would win re-election to the House five times.
He served with the House Committee on Agriculture and with the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. For the former, he was the chairman of its Subcommittee on Rural Development, Research, Biotechnology, and Foreign Agriculture.
In addition, Johnson was a member of several bipartisan Congressional caucuses. Including the International Conservation Caucus and the Congressional Rural Caucus. He was also a co-founder of the Congressional Central Aisle Caucus.
In 2012, a round of redistricting would be moving Johnson to the 13th District of Illinois. He had been gearing up to run in his new district.
And had, in fact, already won the Republican nomination for it in the primary election. But shortly after, he abruptly announced his retirement in what was considered to be a stunning move.
The seat was eventually won by Rodney Davis, another Republican. In 2015, Johnson won a seat on the board of trustees for Parkland College in Champaign.
Had been a practicing attorney
Tim Johnson was a native of Champaign. He later graduated from Urbana High School before attending the United States Military Academy. Eventually, he graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a degree in history.
Johnson also later attended the University of Illinois College of Law, from which he graduated with honors. He would go on to be selected as a member of the prestigious Order of the Coif.
