Jason Andrew Johnson is an American political columnist, policy analyst, and former

think tank A think tank, or public policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governme ...

founder and executive. He was the Republican nominee for

Nevada's 3rd congressional district Nevada's 3rd congressional district is a congressional district occupying southern Las Vegas and much of unincorporated Clark County, Nevada, Clark County. The district was initially created after the 2000 United States census, 2000 census. Thi ...

in the 2024 election. He is running for

Nevada State Treasurer The Nevada state treasurer is an independent constitutional officer in the executive branch of government of the U.S. state of Nevada. The State Treasurer's Office is based in Carson City, Nevada. Twenty-three individuals have occupied the off ...

in the 2026 election. Johnson is known as a

government waste In public choice, a government failure is a counterpart to a market failure in which government regulatory action creates economic inefficiency. A government failure occurs if the costs of an intervention outweigh its benefits. Government failure ...

expert and government

watchdog Watchdog or watch dog may refer to: Animals *Guard dog, a dog that barks to alert its owners of an intruder's presence * Portuguese Watchdog, Cão de Castro Laboreiro, a dog breed * Moscow Watchdog, a breed of dog that was bred in the Soviet U ...

. He writes frequently about tax and budget issues, technology and telecommunications policy, and the environment, and is credited with popularizing the use of

investigative journalism Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, such as serious crimes, racial injustice, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend m ...

think tanks A think tank, or public policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-gov ...

. He was the founder and first president of the Tennessee Center for Policy Research, now known as the Beacon Center of Tennessee.Jeff Woods
The Great Gadfly: How a baby-faced kid became the governor's No. 1 nemesis
, ''

Nashville Scene ''Nashville Scene'' is an alternative newsweekly in Nashville, Tennessee. It was founded in 1989, became a part of Village Voice Media in 1999, and later joined the ranks of sixteen other publications after a merger of Village Voice Media with ...

'', September 11, 2008 He later edited the editorial page of the ''

Chattanooga Times Free Press The ''Chattanooga Times Free Press'' is a daily broadsheet newspaper published in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and is distributed in the metropolitan Chattanooga region of southeastern Tennessee and northwestern Georgia. It is one of Tennessee's majo ...

''. He is a former columnist and editorial writer at ''

The Washington Times ''The Washington Times'' is an American Conservatism, conservative daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It covers general interest topics with an emphasis on Politics of the United States, national politics. Its broadsheet daily edit ...

''. Johnson also worked at the

National Taxpayers Union The National Taxpayers Union (NTU) is a fiscally conservative taxpayer advocacy organization and taxpayers union in the United States, founded in 1977 by James Dale Davidson. NTU says that it is the oldest taxpayer advocacy organization in t ...

, the

Taxpayers Protection Alliance The Taxpayers Protection Alliance is a non-profit advocacy group based in Washington, D.C. The group monitors federal spending and issues reports, research, and analyses on spending and taxation it believes to be in excess. History The Taxpaye ...

, and the

American Enterprise Institute The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, known simply as the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), is a center-right think tank based in Washington, D.C., that researches government, politics, economics, and social welfare ...

. He was narrowly defeated in a 2022 bid for the

Clark County Commission The Clark County Commission is the governmental organization that governs and runs Clark County, Nevada, providing services to the unincorporated areas. Its offices are located at the Clark County Government Center in Downtown Las Vegas. Compos ...

. ''

The Nevada Independent ''The Nevada Independent'' (also, ''The Indy'') is an nonprofit, digital-only newspaper covering Nevada based in the Las Vegas area. In addition to general interest stories, ''The Indy'' specializes in government and politics journalism and rep ...

'' called Johnson's result in the 2024 Republican primary "a surprise win" in the four-way race.

Early life

Johnson grew up in

Johnson City, Tennessee Johnson City is a city in Washington, Carter, and Sullivan counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee, mostly in Washington County. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 71,046, making it Tennessee's eighth-most populous cit ...

, and graduated from

Science Hill High School Science Hill High School is a public high school in Johnson City, Tennessee, United States. Campus The Science Hill/ Liberty Bell/ Freedom Hall complex includes multiple athletic fields, large parking lots, and a -mile walking track that encircle ...

in 1997. He was raised by a single mother who worked two jobs. The family lived in a trailer home. He then earned a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

in political science from

Belmont University Belmont University is a Private university, private Christian university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Descended from Belmont Women's College, founded in 1890 by schoolteachers Ida Hood and Susan Heron, the institution was incorporate ...

and a

Master of Public Policy The Master of Public Policy (MPP) is a graduate-level professional degree. It provides training in policy analysis and program evaluation at public policy schools. The MPP program places a focus on the systematic analysis of issues related to pu ...

degree from

Pepperdine University Pepperdine University () is a private university, private Christianity, Christian research university affiliated with the Churches of Christ, with its main campus in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Pepperdine's main campus consists ...

. Johnson was a Koch Fellow at the

Institute for Humane Studies The Institute for Humane Studies (IHS) is a non-profit organization that promotes the teaching and research of classical liberalism in higher education in the United States. IHS offers funding opportunities, programs, and events for faculty and g ...

and the

. Johnson lived out of his car while starting his career.

Career

Tennessee Center for Policy Research

Johnson founded the Tennessee Center for Policy Research (TCPR) in 2004. Under his leadership, the organization used the Tennessee Open Records Act of obtain

Al Gore Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American former politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. He previously served as ...

's home energy bills the day after the former Vice President won an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

for the

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

documentary ''

An Inconvenient Truth ''An Inconvenient Truth'' is a 2006 American documentary film directed by Davis Guggenheim about former vice president of the United States Al Gore's campaign to educate people about Climate change, global warming. The film features a slide s ...

''. The records showed that, in 2006, Gore's

Belle Meade, Tennessee Belle Meade is a city in Davidson County, Tennessee. Its total land area is , and its population was 2,901 at the time of the 2020 census. Belle Meade operates independently as a city, complete with its own regulations, a city hall, and police ...

home consumed nearly 221,000

kWh A kilowatt-hour (unit symbol: kW⋅h or kW h; commonly written as kWh) is a non-SI unit of energy equal to 3.6 megajoules (MJ) in SI units, which is the energy delivered by one kilowatt of power for one hour. Kilowatt-hours are a common b ...

of electricity—more than 20 times the national average. In 2006, Gore spent an average of $1,359 per month to power the home. After releasing

's home energy consumption, Johnson and other TCPR employees received death threats, harassing emails and threatening phone calls from Gore supporters and environmental activists. The ''Nevada Independent'' wrote that "Much of his research highlights waste, fraud and abuse in the federal government — he is most famous for using public records to calculate climate champion and former Vice President Al Gore's home energy use in Tennessee." Johnson left TCPR at the end of 2009. In May 2011, the

announced that he would join that organization as a senior fellow.

''Chattanooga Times Free Press''

On July 1, 2012, Johnson joined the ''

'' as opinion editor for the ''Free Press'' editorial page, writing editorials and a weekly column. Under Johnson, the ''

'' became the largest newspaper in the United States to endorse Libertarian Party presidential candidate

Gary Johnson Gary Earl Johnson (born January 1, 1953) is an American businessman and politician who served as the 29th List of governors of New Mexico, governor of New Mexico from 1995 to 2003 as a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republica ...

during the

2012 United States presidential election United States presidential election, Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 6, 2012. Incumbent Democratic Party (United States), Democratic President Barack Obama and his running mate, incumbent Vice President Joe Bi ...

cycle. On August 1, 2013, the newspaper announced that Johnson was terminated for violating the newspaper's standards in altering an editorial headline to tell

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

to "Take Your Jobs Plan and Shove It," a play on the classic

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

song "

Take This Job and Shove It "Take This Job and Shove It" is a 1977 country music song written by David Allan Coe and popularized by Johnny Paycheck, about the bitterness of a man who has worked long and hard with no apparent reward. The song was first recorded by Paycheck o ...

." The newspaper stated the alteration was "inappropriate" and that Johnson did not follow normal editing procedures. Johnson later claimed that his firing was a result of the criticizing Chattanooga's electric company, EPB, one of the newspaper's largest advertisers. "When I explained how EPB scammed taxpayers out of hundreds of millions of dollars... EPB pulled its ads from the paper," Johnson said. "I know the paper was frustrated with losing money because I was willing to speak the truth about bad actors in the community."

Media and think tanks

Johnson then joined ''

'' as a columnist, editorial writer and author of the newspaper's weekly "Golden Hammer" column, which exposed an egregious example of wasteful spending of tax dollars. Johnson also hosted a weekly "Golden Hammer" television segment based on the column that was available on some

Sinclair Broadcast Group Sinclair, Inc., doing business as Sinclair Broadcast Group, is a publicly traded American telecommunications conglomerate that is controlled by the descendants of company founder Julian Sinclair Smith. Headquartered in the Baltimore suburb o ...

stations' local news broadcasts. In April 2016, Johnson was named National Director of Protect Internet Freedom, a group formed to push back on new

net neutrality Net neutrality, sometimes referred to as network neutrality, is the principle that Internet service providers (ISPs) must treat all Internet communications equally, offering User (computing), users and online content providers consistent tra ...

rules and federal preemption of state laws limiting

municipal broadband A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

buildouts. He joined the

National Center for Public Policy Research The National Center for Public Policy Research (NCPPR), founded in 1982, is a self-described conservative think tank in the United States. Amy Ridenour was the founding CEO and chairman until her death in 2017. David A. Ridenour, her husband, v ...

as a senior scholar in 2017. Johnson again investigated

's home energy use in a 2017 report written for the

. According to information obtained through the

Nashville Electric Service Nashville Electric Service is one of the 11 largest public electric utilities in the United States, distributing energy to more than 450,000 customers in Middle Tennessee. The NES service area covers , all of Nashville/ Davidson County and portion ...

, energy consumption at Gore's

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

-area house increased from 2006 to 2017, despite installing 33 solar panels on the home following the initial criticism. In 2017, Gore's home used 21.3 times more energy per month than a typical American household.

Political views

Johnson is a libertarian-leaning Republican. He has opposed the

death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in s ...

and the Patriot Act, spoken out against anti-Muslim bias and criticized Republicans for increasing government spending. He has also written in support of

free speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recognise ...

gay marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 billion people (20% ...

and drug legalization. In 2016, Johnson called Trump a "socialist" and in 2020 called his presidency an "embarrassment" after a federal execution. But in 2024, Johnson endorsed Trump's 2024 presidential run. Johnson has said he wants to be in Congress to help move the Republican Party beyond Trump. In June 2024, he told ''The Nevada Independent'' if elected he would vote against government funded-abortion services and against a national abortion ban, believing that the Dobbs decision left the issue "appropriately" up to the states.

Public service

Johnson served as commissioner on the Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth from 1997 to 2006, and was named to the Tennessee Advisory Committee to the

United States Commission on Civil Rights The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (CCR) is a bipartisan, independent commission of the United States federal government, created by the Civil Rights Act of 1957 during the Eisenhower administration, that is charged with the responsibility f ...

in 2008. He currently serves as the public member of the

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

State Board of

Optometry Optometry is the healthcare practice concerned with examining the eyes for visual defects, prescribing corrective lenses, and detecting eye abnormalities. In the United States and Canada, optometrists are those that hold a post-baccalaureate f ...

Personal life

He is married to marketing consultant and travel

blogger A blog (a Clipping (morphology), truncation of "weblog") is an informational website consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries also known as posts. Posts are typically displayed in Reverse chronology, reverse chronologic ...

Sarah Reeves Johnson and they live in Las Vegas. They moved there in 2015 when seeking a friendly environment to start a small business. Johnson is credited with starting the

Vegas Golden Knights The Vegas Golden Knights are a professional ice hockey team based in the Las Vegas Valley, Las Vegas metropolitan area. The Golden Knights compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division ...

' "Victory Flamingo" tradition, in which fans of the

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

team toss pink plastic flamingos on the ice in celebration of

victories.

Electoral history

References

External links

Campaign website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Drew American male journalists The Washington Times people People from Johnson City, Tennessee 1979 births Living people Belmont University alumni Pepperdine University alumni Candidates in the 2024 United States House of Representatives elections