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(CNN) — Here is a look at the life of Mike Johnson, speaker of the US House of Representatives and representative from Louisiana.
Personal
Birth date: January 30, 1972
Birth place: Shreveport, Louisiana
Birth name: James Michael Johnson
Father: Patrick “Pat” Johnson, firefighter and hazardous materials consultant
Mother: Jeanne Johnson
Marriage: Kelly (Lary) Johnson (1999-present)
Children: Hannah, Abigail, Jack, Will and Michael James (became his legal guardians in 1999)
Education: B.S. in business administration, Louisiana State University, 1995; J.D., Louisiana State University, 1998
Religion: Southern Baptist
Other Facts
Has been a vocal supporter of Donald Trump and was a key congressional figure in the failed efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
Johnson has a history of harsh anti-gay language from his time as an attorney for a socially conservative legal group in the mid-2000s.
Has spoken publicly about his “covenant marriage,” a religiously influenced marriage option legal in a handful of states which requires premarital counseling and makes divorce extremely difficult.
When Johnson was 12 years old, his father nearly died in a facility explosion that left him with second- and third-degree burns and permanently disabled.
Timeline
2002-2010 - Attorney for the Alliance Defense Fund, now known as Alliance Defending Freedom.
2010-2012 - Dean of a law school that never opened at Louisiana College, now Louisiana Christian University.
Mid 2010s - Founds Freedom Guard, a legal-advocacy ministry.
2015-2017 - Serves as a member of the Louisiana state House of Representatives.
December 10, 2016 - Wins a runoff election to the US House of Representatives with 65% of the vote.
January 3, 2017-present - US representative from Louisiana’s 4th District.
2018 - Becomes an adjunct online professor with the Helms School of Government at Liberty University.
2021-2023 - Vice chair of the House Republican Conference.
2022-2023 - Johnson and his wife host a weekly podcast titled “Truth be Told with Mike and Kelly Johnson.”
October 18, 2022 - Johnson introduces a bill that some have described as a national version of what critics have called Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill. Johnson’s bill, H.R. 9197 Stop the Sexualization of Children Act, groups sexual orientation and gender identity with pornography and stripping and aims to prohibit “the use of federal funds to develop, implement, facilitate, or fund any sexually-oriented program, event or literature for children under the age of 10.” On the same day, it is referred to the Committee on Oversight and Reform and the Committee on Education and Labor.
October 21, 2023 - Announces that he is joining the House speakership race.
October 25, 2023 - Johnson is elected House speaker, three weeks after the historic ouster of Kevin McCarthy. Republicans tried and failed three separate times to coalesce behind a new speaker nominee before ultimately uniting around Johnson.
May 8, 2024 - The House votes 359 to 43 to reject an effort by GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene to oust Johnson from the speakership.
January 3, 2025 - Reelected speaker of the House.
The-CNN-Wire
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