Preceded by Mark W. Perry Spouse(s) Laurie Anne Johnson | Children Five children Name Bob Johnson | |
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Political party Republican-turned-Democrat (2013) Residence Jacksonville, Pulaski County
Arkansas, USA Alma mater University of Central Arkansas
University of Arkansas at Fayetteville Role Arkansas state representative Education University of Central Arkansas | ||
Robert Johnson (born August 1, 1953) is an American accountant from his native Jacksonville, Arkansas, who is a Democratic member of the Arkansas House of Representatives for District 42 in a portion of Pulaski County outside the capital city of Little Rock.
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Background
Johnson received a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from the University of Central Arkansas in Conway in Faulkner County and a Master of Science in accounting at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. Since 1990, he has maintained a Certified Public Accounting practice in Jacksonville, where he resides with his wife, Laurie Anne Johnson (born c. 1963), and their five children, Baxter, Taylor, Aaron, Nick and Ben. He is affiliated with Rotary International, Boys and Girls Clubs, the Chamber of Commerce, the Sertoma Club, and Ducks Unlimited. He is a member of the First Baptist Church in Jacksonville.
Political life
Johnson was a lifelong Republican who served ten years as a justice of the peace in the Pulaski County Quorum Court until 2014, when in 2013 he switched parties to seek the state legislative seat vacated by the term-limited Mark W. Perry. He ran unopposed for the House in both the Democratic nomination and in the November 4, 2014 general election.
Johnson calls himself a Moderate Republican turned Conservative Democrat. He criticized the majority of Arkansas legislative Republicans for their conservative positions on issues. Johnson said that his father had been a supporter of former Governor Winthrop Rockefeller, a two-term Moderate Republican who was unseated in 1970 by the Democrat Dale Bumpers. In making his party switch, Johnson gained the backing of Will Bond, the Democratic state chairman who had preceded Mark Perry in the District 42 House seat.
Representative Johnson holds these committee assignments: (1) Public Transportation (2) Aging, Children, and Youth, Legislative and Military Affairs, and (3) Joint Committee on Public Retirement and Social Security Programs. In the 2015 legislative session, Johnson supported an increase in public school teacher pay but did not vote on the religious freedom legislation, House Bill 1228, offered by Republican Bob Ballinger of Carroll County. The measure was revised and subsequently passed by a large margin in the House, supported by Johnson and signed into law in revised form, SB 975, by Republican Governor Asa Hutchinson.