Ruth Johnson

Johnson, of Holly, a former public school teacher and small business owner, clerk and register of deeds of Oakland County, a suburban area immediately north of Detroit with a population of more than one million, prior to her election as secretary of state in November 2010.[2][3] She was elected clerk of Oakland County in 2004, upsetting incumbent G. William Caddell in the Republican Primary[4]and defeated Democratic nominee Jason Ellenburg in the general election.[5] She became the first woman clerk in Oakland County's 176-year history.

In August 2006, Johnson was selected by Grand Rapids businessman and Republican gubernatorial nominee Dick DeVos as his running mate, becoming the GOP nominee for Lieutenant Governor of Michigan.[6] DeVos and Johnson lost the general election to the incumbent Democratic ticket of Gov. Jennifer Granholm and Lt. Gov. John Cherry. [7] In 2007, Johnson endorsed Sen. John McCain's bid for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination and served as the Oakland County Chair for McCain's Michigan campaign.[8] Johnson was re-elected County Clerk in 2008, defeating Democrat Sheila Smith.[9]

Johnson was elected to the Michigan House of Representatives in 1998, and re-elected in 2000 and 2002; term limits made her ineligible for a fourth term.

In July 2017, Ruth Johnson agreed to provide Michigan voter registration information to a federal commission created by Trump to investigate alleged illegal voting by "millions" that he says will prove he won the popular vote in the 2016 election [10] Johnson indicated she would only provide basic public voter information.[11]

In 2014, Michigan was named the best state in the nation for registering qualified U.S. citizens at state motor-vehicle offices, according to USA Today.[12] Also in 2014, the University of Michigan's Center for Local, State and Urban Policy found that the Secretary of State's Office was rated the second best state agency for job performance by community leaders.[13] That same year, the state's Mackinac Bridge license plate was named the best designed plate in the world.[14]

As secretary, Johnson promoted motorcycle safety initiatives, such as wearing high-visibility gear and encouraging riders to get a cycle endorsement. Johnson herself is a licensed motorcycle rider and often rides in to motorcycle-related news conferences.[15] Johnson pushed her departments to foster safe driving among teens. After reviewing the department's teen driver licensing program, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration offered recommendations for improvement but overall gave the program high praise for combating the leading cause of death for teens in the United States.[16][17]

After her tenure as Secretary of State, she was elected as a Michigan State Senator.[18] In September 2020, Johnson filed a lawsuit against Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson for allowing votes postmarked before election day to be counted after election day.[19]

In 2014, Johnson defeated Detroit lawyer and Democrat Godfrey Dillard, Libertarian James Lewis, US Taxpayers Robert Gale, and Natural Law Jason Gatties to earn a second term by 10.6 percentage points, receiving 1,649,047 votes to the defeated candidates 1,431,748 votes. She drew more votes than any other Republican candidate on the ballot.[20]

In 2010, she won the Republican nomination for secretary of state at the party's state convention. Her opponents were Paul Scott, Michelle McManus, Anne Norlander and Cameron Brown. She went on to win the general election defeating Democrat Jocelyn Benson, Libertarian Scotty Boman, Green John Anthony La Pietra, and US Taxpayer Robert Gale.[21]

• Official Secretary of State bio of Johnson
• Ruth Johnson for State Senate Website
• Ruth Johnson for Senate Facebook page
• Appearances on C-SPAN