Thomas Lee Johnson (April 30, 1945 – December 3, 2018) was a Republican

Illinois State Senator The Illinois Senate is the upper chamber of the Illinois General Assembly, the legislative branch of the government of the State of Illinois in the United States. The body was created by the first state constitution adopted in 1818. Under th ...

. He represented the 48th district in the Illinois Senate from 2011 to 2013. Johnson previously served in the

Illinois House of Representatives The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The House under the constitution as amended in 1980 consists of 118 representativ ...

from 1993 to 2003.

Early life and education

Born in California and raised in South Dakota and Illinois, Johnson was the son of an ordained minister. Johnson graduated from

Oak Lawn Community High School Oak Lawn Community High School, is a public four-year high school in Oak Lawn, Illinois, in the Chicago metropolitan area. The name "Spartans" and the colors Kelly Green and White were chosen by a committee in tribute to the Michigan State Univer ...

Oak Lawn, Illinois Oak Lawn is a Village (Illinois), village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 58,362 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Oak Lawn is a suburb of Chicago, located southwest of the city. It shares borders with the ...

in 1963 and then served in the Army from 1966 until 1968. He then earned a bachelor's degree in political science from the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

in 1970. He then earned a J.D. degree from the

DePaul University College of Law DePaul University College of Law is the law school of DePaul University, a private Catholic research university in Chicago, Illinois. It employs more than 125 full- and part-time faculty members and enrolls more than 500 students in its Juri ...

in 1974.

Professional career

Johnson began his career in 1974 as a prosecutor in

DuPage County, Illinois DuPage County ( ) is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Illinois, and one of the collar counties of the Chicago metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 932,877, making it List of ...

, rising to become the chief of its white-collar crime division. Johnson then cofounded his own law firm in 1979. He ran for U.S. Congress as a Republican in 1984, but lost in the primary to

John E. Grotberg John E. Grotberg (March 21, 1925 – November 15, 1986) was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from Illinois serving from 1985 until his death from bronchial pneumonia and colon cancer in St. Charles, Illinois in ...

.https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=377880 In 1992, Johnson won election to the 50th district in the Illinois House, where he served for the next 10 years. He served in a heavily Republican district that stretched from western DuPage County to St. Charles, Illinois. He chose not to seek re-election in 2002. Johnson would then go on to serve on the Illinois Prisoner Review Board. In 2010, Johnson was appointed to an Illinois Senate seat to fill the vacancy left by the ascension of

Randy Hultgren Randall Mark Hultgren (; born March 1, 1966) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2011 to 2019. He is a member of the Republican Party. Hultgren represented the 48th district Senate seat in the Illinois Gener ...

to U.S. Congress.

Death

Johnson died of cancer on December 3, 2018.

References

External links

Illinois General Assembly - Tom Johnson (R) 48th District
''official IL Senate website''
BillsCommitteesTom Johnson for State Senate
''official campaign website'' * {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Tom Republican Party Illinois state senators Republican Party members of the Illinois House of Representatives 1945 births 2018 deaths University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts alumni People from West Chicago, Illinois Military personnel from Illinois 21st-century members of the Illinois General Assembly