Representative Brian Johnson Contact information

Brian Johnson

Born: June 27, 1961 Political Party: Republican Spouse: Diane Children: 1 Residence: Cambridge, Minnesota Education: Hibbing Area Vocational Technical Institute (A.A.S.) Occupation: Retired law enforcement, Legislator

Early Life and Education

Brian Johnson grew up on a dairy farm and attended Cambridge High School. He graduated from Hibbing Community College, now Minnesota North College Hibbing, with an associate degree in law enforcement.

Career

Before his political career, Johnson worked as a firefighter and EMT in Braham and was a deputy sheriff in Isanti County for 17 years.

Political Career

Brian Johnson has been serving in the Minnesota House of Representatives since 2013. He represents District 32A in eastern Minnesota, which includes the cities of Cambridge, Isanti, and North Branch, and parts of Chisago and Isanti Counties.

He was elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives in 2012 and has been reelected every two years since. He first ran after redistricting and after one-term Republican incumbent Roger Crawford announced he would not seek reelection.

Johnson is the minority lead on the Housing Finance and Policy Committee and sits on the Judiciary Finance and Civil Law Committee. He served as vice chair of the Public Safety & Security Policy and Finance Committee during the 2017 legislative session. After chair Tony Cornish resigned following multiple allegations of sexual harassment, Johnson became chair of the committee for the 2018 session.

Public Safety

Johnson has opposed various criminal justice reform proposals put forward by House Democrats, and accused the DFL of being “hostile” to police and “pushing an anti-law enforcement and defund the police policies”. He opposed legislation requiring law enforcement to release unedited body camera footage after deadly force incidents to the families of the victims within 48 hours of the event. After the police killing of Daunte Wright, Johnson said, “it’s unfortunate that he didn’t comply and go to jail”. He voted against legislation to ban no-knock warrants and opposed a bipartisan bill to return the right to vote to felons on parole, saying he believed it was unconstitutional. Johnson opposed legislation to legalize marijuana in Minnesota and a bill to provide driver’s licenses to all Minnesotans regardless of immigration status. Johnson has supported “tough on crime” policies, such as increasing patrols in high-risk areas, increasing police recruiting, and stronger penalties for violent crime.