Steve Johnson (born April 21, 1960) is an American former politician. He was a

county commissioner A county commission (or a board of county commissioners) is a group of elected officials (county commissioners) collectively charged with administering the County (United States)#County government, county government in some U.S. state, states of ...

Larimer County, Colorado Larimer County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 359,066. The county seat and most populous city is Fort Collins. The county was named for William Larimer, Jr., the founder of Denve ...

, and a Republican member of the

Colorado Senate The Colorado State Senate is the upper house of the Colorado General Assembly, the state legislature of the US state of Colorado. It is composed of 35 members elected from single-member districts, with each district having a population of abou ...

. From 2003 to 2009, Johnson represented the 15th Senate district, encompassing rural

Larimer County Larimer County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 359,066. The county seat and most populous city is Fort Collins, Colorado, Fort Colli ...

and the cities of Loveland and

Estes Park Estes Park () is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Statutory town, statutory town in Larimer County, Colorado, United States. The town population was 5,904 at the 2020 United States census. Estes Park is a part of the Fort Collins, CO Metropo ...

. Previously he was a member of the

Colorado House of Representatives The Colorado House of Representatives is the lower house of the Colorado General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Colorado. The House is composed of 65 members from an equal number of constituent districts, with each distri ...

from 1997 through 2002.

Biography

Johnson holds a bachelor's degree in chemistry and a D.V.M. from

Colorado State University Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado, United States. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University Syst ...

, Johnson worked as a veterinarian in

Loveland, Colorado Loveland is a List of cities and towns in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule municipality and the List of cities and towns in Colorado, second most populous municipality in Larimer County, Colorado, United States. Loveland is situated n ...

, and currently works as a county supervisor for Larimer County. He has taught science at Heritage Christian High School. Johnson is married and has no children. Johnson was a member of the Larimer County Planning Commission from 1987 to 1996, and was first elected to the State House in 1996. In 2002, he was elected to the State Senate over Democrat Kathy Gilliland, and was re-elected in 2006, defeating Democrat Jennifer Miller. In the 2007-2008 session of the Colorado General Assembly, Johnson sat on the powerful Joint Budget Committee and the Senate Appropriations Committee. A moderate Republican, Johnson was the State Senate sponsor for Referendum C, a statewide measure to remove TABOR restrictions on the state budget; his sponsorship put him at odd with other fiscally conservative Republicans. In addition to his work on the six-member Joint Budget Committee preparing the state budget, Johnson has expressed priorities of expanding funding to higher education and re-opening the state drivers' license office in Loveland./ The office reopened on May 16, 2008. In June 2007, Johnson — otherwise healthy and athletic, having recently taken second place in a legislative fitness challenge — suffered a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

. That same summer, Johnson taught an

organic chemistry Organic chemistry is a subdiscipline within chemistry involving the science, scientific study of the structure, properties, and reactions of organic compounds and organic matter, organic materials, i.e., matter in its various forms that contain ...

class at Colorado State University. Since then, Johnson has placed a renewed emphasis on affordable

healthcare Health care, or healthcare, is the improvement or maintenance of health via the preventive healthcare, prevention, diagnosis, therapy, treatment, wikt:amelioration, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other disability, physic ...

, calling it a "moral issue" for the Republican Party. In January 2008, Johnson, facing the end of his senate tenure in 2010, announced his candidacy for a seat on the

Board of Commissioners.The Coloradoan - www.coloradoan.com - Ft. Collins, CO
/ref> He was elected in 2008, in 2012 without opposition, and again in 2016. In 2015, Johnson was named Colorado Commissioner of the Year by the state-wide County Commissioner organization, Colorado Counties, Inc. He retired from politics in 2021.

References

External links

Project Vote Smart - Senator Steve Johnson (CO)
profile
Rocky Mountain News - Steve Johnson
candidate profile {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Steve 1960 births Living people Colorado state senators County commissioners in Colorado Members of the Colorado House of Representatives Politicians from Columbus, Ohio 20th-century Colorado politicians 21st-century members of the Colorado General Assembly