Tim Johnson

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This article is about the U.S. Senator from South Dakota. For the U.S. Representative from Illinois, see Timothy V. Johnson.

Timothy Peter Johnson (born December 28, 1946, in Canton, South Dakota) is a United States Senator from South Dakota. He is the senior Senator from that state, and a member of the Democratic Party.

Born in Canton, South Dakota, Johnson earned a B.A. in 1969 and an M.A. in 1970, both from the University of South Dakota, where he was a brother of Delta Tau Delta. After doing post-graduate studies at Michigan State University from 1970-71, he earned a J.D. from the University of South Dakota in 1975. He served in the South Dakota House of Representatives from 1979-82 and in the South Dakota Senate from 1983-86. He served in the United States House of Representatives, representing South Dakota at-large, from 1987-97.

Johnson defeated three-term Senator Larry Pressler in 1996, making him the only Senate candidate to defeat an incumbent in a year which saw an extremely large number of open seats. He defeated his successor in the at-large House seat, U.S. Representative John Thune, by 524 votes to win re-election in 2002. His re-election race was widely seen as a proxy battle between President George W. Bush, who had carried South Dakota comfortably in 2000, and the state's senior Senator and Johnson's fellow Democrat, Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, who was up for re-election in 2004.

Johnson is one of the more conservative Democrats in the Senate. While in the House, he was among the minority of his party to vote in favor of the Personal Responsibility Act of 1995, a welfare reform bill, and another bill to repeal the ban on semiautomatic weapons. He was among the minority of Democrats to vote for Bush's 2001 tax cut. On January 31, 2006, Johnson was one of only four Democrats to vote to confirm Judge Samuel Alito to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Johnson was, however, among the minority of senators to vote against the Laci and Conner's Law which was strongly supported by pro-life groups. While a member of the House, he was one of only 16 congressmen to vote against the Telecom Act of 1996, which provided for deregulation and competition in the communication sector and was given firm support by Republicans, business groups, and most Democrats.

His oldest son, Brooks, serves in the U.S. Army, making him one of the few federal elected officials with a child in the U.S. Armed Forces.

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