Mike Johanns
Michael Owen "Mike" Johanns (b. June 18, 1950, in Osage, IA) was a Republican member of the U.S. Senate from the state of Nebraska. Johanns was first elected to the Senate in 2009. On February 18, 2013, he announced that he would not run for re-election in 2014.[1]
Prior to his election to the U.S. Senate, Johanns served in President George W. Bush's cabinet from 2005-2009 as the Secretary of Agriculture and as Governor of Nebraska from 1999-2005.[2]
Biography
Johanns was born in Osage, Iowa, and grew up living and working on his family's farm. After graduating from high school, Johanns went on to study at Saint Mary's University of Minnesota in Winona. He earned a law degree from Creighton University.[3]
Career
Below is an abbreviated outline of Johanns' academic, professional, and political career:[2]
- 1989-1991: Lincoln City Council
- 1991-1998: Mayor of Lincoln, Nebraska
- 1999-2005: Governor of Nebraska
- 2005-2009: Secretary of Agriculture in the Cabinet of President George W. Bush
- 2009-2015: Member of the United States Senate from Nebraska
Committee assignments
U.S. Senate
2013-2014
Johanns served on the following Senate committees:[4]
- Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry
- Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy, Poultry, Marketing and Agriculture Security
- Subcommittee on Jobs, Rural Economic Growth and Energy Innovation
- Subcommittee on Commodities, Markets, Trade and Risk Management
- Committee on Veterans' Affairs
- Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
- Subcommittee on Securities, Insurance and Investment
- Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Protection Members
- Subcommittee on Economic Policy
- United States Senate Committee on Appropriations
- Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs
- Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies
- Subcommittee on Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies
- Subcommittee on Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies
- Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government Members Ranking member
2011-2012
Johanns served on the following committees:[5]
- Subcommittee on Energy, Science and Technology
- Subcommittee on Domestic and Foreign Marketing, Inspection, and Plant and Animal Health (Ranking Member)
- Subcommittee on Production, Income Protection and Price Support
- Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
- Subcommittee on Financial Institutions
- Subcommittee on Housing, Transportation, and Community Development
- Subcommittee on Securities, Insurance, and Investment
- Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation
- Subcommittee on Aviation Operations, Safety, and Security
- Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet
- Subcommittee on Competitiveness, Innovation, and Export Promotion
- Subcommittee on Science and Space
- Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety, and Security
- Impeachment Trial Committee on the Articles against Judge G. Thomas Porteous, Jr.
Key votes
113th Congress
The second session of the 113th Congress enacted into law 224 out of the 3215 introduced bills (7 percent). Comparatively, the 112th Congress had 4.2 percent of introduced bills enacted into law in the second session.[6] The Senate confirmed 13,949 out of 18,323 executive nominations received (76.1 percent). For more information pertaining to Johanns's voting record in the 113th Congress, please see the below sections.[7]
National security
John Brennan CIA nomination
Johanns voted against the confirmation of John Brennan as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. The nomination was confirmed by the Senate on March 7, 2013, with a vote of 63 - 34. Most Democrats supported the nomination, while Republicans were somewhat divided with roughly one-third supporting the nomination.[8]
Drones filibuster
On March 6, 2013, Senator Rand Paul (R) led a 13-hour filibuster of President Obama's CIA Director nominee, John Brennan. Paul started the filibuster in order to highlight his concerns about the administration's drone policies. In particular, Paul said he was concerned about whether a drone could be used to kill an American citizen within the United States border, without any due process involved. Paul and other civil liberties activists criticized President Obama for not offering a clear response to the question. A total of 14 senators joined Paul in the filibuster -- 13 Republicans and one Democrat.[9][10][11]
Johanns was one of 30 Republican senators who did not support the filibuster.[12][13][14][15]
The day after the filibuster, Attorney General Eric Holder sent a letter to Paul, responding to the filibuster. Holder wrote, "Does the president have the authority to use a weaponized drone to kill an American not engaged in combat on U.S. soil? The answer to that is no."[16]
Economy
No Budget, No Pay Act of 2013
Johanns voted against H.R.325 -- No Budget, No Pay Act of 2013. The bill passed the Senate on January 31, 2013, with a vote of 64 - 34. The purpose of the bill was to temporarily suspend the debt ceiling and withhold the pay of members of Congress until a budget could be passed. The vote largely followed party lines with Democrats overwhelmingly supporting it and many Republicans in opposition to the bill.[17]
Government shutdown
- See also: United States budget debate, 2013
During the shutdown in October 2013, the Senate rejected, down party lines, every House-originated bill that stripped the budget of funding for the Affordable Care Act. A deal was reached late on October 16, 2013, just hours before the debt ceiling deadline. The bill to reopen the government, H.R. 2775, lifted the $16.7 trillion debt limit and funded the government through January 15, 2014. Federal employees also received retroactive pay for the shutdown period. The only concession made by Senate Democrats was to require income verification for Obamacare subsidies.[18] The final vote on H.R. 2775 was 81-18, with all 18 votes against the bill from Republican members. Johanns voted with the Democratic Party for the bill.[19]
Immigration
Mexico-U.S. border
Johanns voted for Senate Amendment 1197 -- Requires the Completion of the Fence Along the United States-Mexico Border. The amendment was rejected by the Senate on June 18, 2013, with a vote of 39 - 54. The purpose of the amendment was to require the completion of 350 miles of fence described in the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 before registered provisional immigrant status may be granted. It would also require 700 miles of fence be completed before the status of registered provisional immigrants may be changed to permanent resident status. The vote followed party lines.[20]
Social issues
Violence Against Women (2013)
Johanns voted against S.47 -- Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013. The bill was passed by the Senate on February 12, 2013, with a vote of 78 - 22. The purpose of the bill was to combat violence against women, from domestic violence to international trafficking in persons. All 22 dissenting votes were cast by Republicans.[21]
Previous congressional sessions
Fiscal Cliff
Johanns voted for the fiscal cliff compromise bill, which made permanent most of the Bush tax cuts originally passed in 2001 and 2003 while also raising tax rates on the highest income levels. The bill was passed in the Senate by an 89 - 8 vote on January 1, 2013.[22]
Issues
Presidential preference
2012
Mike Johanns endorsed Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential election.[23]
Elections
2014
Johanns did not run for re-election.[1]
2008
On November 4, 2008, Johanns was elected to the United States Senate. He defeated Scott Kleeb (D), Kelly Renee Rosberg (Nebraska) and Steve Larrick (Green).[24]
| U.S. Senate, Nebraska General Election, 2008 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican |  Mike Johanns |
57.5% | 455,854 | |
| Democratic | Scott Kleeb | 40.1% | 317,456 | |
| Nebraska | Kelly Renee Rosberg | 1.4% | 11,438 | |
| Green | Steven R. Larrick | 1% | 7,763 | |
| Total Votes | 792,511 | |||
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Personal Gain Index
- See also: Personal Gain Index (U.S. Congress)
- See also: Personal Gain Index (U.S. Congress)
The Personal Gain Index (U.S. Congress) is a two-part measurement that illustrates the extent to which members of the U.S. Congress have prospered during their tenure as public servants.
It consists of two different metrics:
PGI: Change in net worth
Based on congressional financial disclosure forms and calculations made available by OpenSecrets.org, Johanns' net worth as of 2012 was estimated between $3,186,034 and $6,043,001. That averages to $4,614,517.50, which is lower than the average net worth of Republican senators in 2012 of $6,956,438.47. Johanns ranked as the 31st most wealthy senator in 2012.[25] Between 2008 and 2012, Johanns' calculated net worth[26] increased by an average of 12 percent per year. Between 2004 and 2012, the average annual percentage increase for a member of Congress was 15.4 percent.[27]
| Mike Johanns Yearly Net Worth | |
|---|---|
| Year | Average Net Worth |
| 2008 | $3,133,028 |
| 2012 | $4,614,517 |
| Growth from 2008 to 2012: | 47% |
| Average annual growth: | 12%[28] |
| Comparatively, the American citizen experienced a median yearly decline in net worth of -0.94%.[29] | |
The data used to calculate changes in net worth may include changes resulting from assets gained through marriage, inheritance, changes in family estates and/or trusts, changes in family business ownership, and many other variables unrelated to a member's behavior in Congress.
PGI: Donation Concentration Metric
Filings required by the Federal Election Commission report on the industries that give to each candidate. Using campaign filings and information calculated by OpenSecrets.org, Ballotpedia calculated the percentage of donations by industry received by each incumbent over the course of his or her career (or 1989 and later, if elected prior to 1988). Johanns received the most donations from individuals and PACs employed by the Insurance industry.
From 2007-2014, 22.42 percent of Johanns' career contributions came from the top five industries as listed below.[30]
| Mike Johanns Campaign Contributions | |
|---|---|
| Total Raised | $4,623,957 |
| Total Spent | $4,365,559 |
| Top five industries that contributed to campaign committee | |
| Insurance | $244,900 |
| Leadership PACs | $224,930 |
| Retired | $224,731 |
| Real Estate | $171,140 |
| Lawyers/Law Firms | $170,949 |
| % total in top industry | 5.3% |
| % total in top two industries | 10.16% |
| % total in top five industries | 22.42% |
Analysis
Ideology and leadership
Based on an analysis of bill sponsorship by GovTrack, Johanns was a moderate Republican leader as of July 2014.[31] Johanns was rated as a "rank-and-file Republican" in July 2013.
Like-minded colleagues
The website OpenCongress tracks the voting records of each member to determine with whom he or she votes most and least often. The results include a member from each party.[32]
|
Johanns most often voted with: |
Johanns least often voted with: |
Lifetime voting record
According to the website GovTrack, Johanns missed 57 of 1,706 roll call votes from January 2009 to July 2014. This amounts to 3.3 percent, which is worse than the median of 2.0 percent among current senators as of July 2014.[33]
Congressional staff salaries
The website Legistorm compiles staff salary information for members of Congress. Johanns paid his congressional staff a total of $2,287,429 in 2011. He ranked 18th on the list of the lowest paid Republican senatorial staff salaries and ranked 24th overall of the lowest paid senatorial staff salaries in 2011. Overall, Nebraska ranked 38th in average salary for senatorial staff. The average U.S. Senate congressional staff was paid $2,529,141.70 in fiscal year 2011.[34]
National Journal vote ratings
- See also: National Journal vote ratings
Each year National Journal publishes an analysis of how liberally or conservatively each member of Congress voted in the previous year. Click the link above for the full ratings of all members of Congress.
2013
Johanns ranked 31st in the conservative rankings in 2013.[35]
2012
Johanns ranked 39th in the conservative rankings in 2012.[36]
2011
Johanns ranked 39th in the conservative rankings in 2011.[37]
Voting with party
The website OpenCongress tracks how often members of Congress vote with the majority of the chamber caucus.
2014
Johanns voted with the Republican Party 88.1 percent of the time, which ranked 20th among the 45 Senate Republican members as of July 2014.[38]
2013
Johanns voted with the Republican Party 86.6 percent of the time, which ranked 27th among the 46 Senate Republican members as of June 2013.[39]
Personal
Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Johanns is married to Stephanie Johanns, a former Lancaster County Commissioner and Nebraska State Senator. They have two children and five grandchildren.[3]
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term Mike + Johanns + Nebraska + Senate
See also
- List of U.S. Congress incumbents not running for re-election in 2014
- U.S. Senate delegation from Nebraska
- United States congressional delegations from Nebraska
- United States Senate elections in Nebraska, 2014
External links
- Social media:
- Biographies:
- Political profiles:
- Financial (federal level):
- Interest group ratings:
- Issue positions:
- Legislation:
- Public statements:
- Voting record:
- Works by or about:
- Media appearances:
- Media coverage:
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 NY Times.com, "Republican Senator From Nebraska Won’t Run in 2014," accessed February 18, 2013
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, "Johanns," accessed July 1, 2013
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 The White House, President George W. Bush (archive), "Mike Johanns, Former Secretary of Agriculture," accessed January 9, 2015
- ↑ Congressional Quarterly, "Senate Committee List," accessed January 22, 2013
- ↑ Official Senate Page of Mike Johanns, "Committee Assignments for Senator Johanns," accessed October 22, 2011
- ↑ Congressional Record, "Resume of Congressional Activity, First Session of the 112th Congress," accessed September 5, 2013
- ↑ Congressional Record, "Resume of Congressional Activity, Second Session of the 113th Congress," accessed March 4, 2014
- ↑ Project Vote Smart, "PN 48 - Nomination of John Brennan to be Director of the Central Intelligence Agency - Voting Record," accessed September 25, 2013
- ↑ CNN, "Rand Paul says he's heard from White House after filibuster," March 7, 2013
- ↑ USA Today, "Rand Paul filibuster ranks among Senate's longest," March 7, 2013
- ↑ ABC News, "Rand Paul wins applause from GOP and liberals," March 7, 2013
- ↑ Breitbart, "AWOL: Meet the GOP senators who refused to stand with Rand," March 7, 2013
- ↑ Politico, "Rand Paul filibuster blasted by Sens. John McCain, Lindsey Graham," March 7, 2013
- ↑ Politico, "Rand Paul pulls plug on nearly 13-hour filibuster," March 7, 2017
- ↑ The Blaze, "Here Are All the GOP Senators That Participated in Rand Paul’s 12+ Hour Filibuster… and the Ones Who Didn’t," March 7, 2013
- ↑ Washington Post, "Eric Holder responds to Rand Paul with ‘no’," March 7, 2013
- ↑ Project Vote Smart, "HR 325 - To Ensure the Complete and Timely Payment of the Obligations of the United States Government Until May 19, 2013 - Voting Record," accessed September 25, 2013
- ↑ The Washington Post, "Reid, McConnell propose bipartisan Senate bill to end shutdown, extend borrowing," accessed October 16, 2013
- ↑ Senate.gov, "H.R. 2775 As Amended," accessed October 31, 2013
- ↑ Project Vote Smart, "S Amdt 1197 - Requires the Completion of the Fence Along the United States-Mexico Border - Voting Record," accessed September 25, 2013
- ↑ Project Vote Smart, "S 47 - Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 - Voting Record," accessed September 25, 2013
- ↑ U.S. Senate, "Roll Call Vote on the Fiscal Cliff," accessed January 4, 2013
- ↑ CBS News, "Nebraska's Johanns to endorse Romney," December 21, 2011
- ↑ U.S. Congress House Clerk, "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 4, 2008," accessed March 28, 2013
- ↑ OpenSecrets, "Johanns, (R-NE), 2012," accessed February 18, 2014
- ↑ This figure represents the average annual percentage growth from either 2004 (if the member entered office in 2004 or earlier) or their first year in office (as noted in the chart below) to 2012, divided by the number of years calculated.
- ↑ This number was found by dividing each member's total net worth growth percentage by the number of years included in the calculation.
- ↑ This figure represents the total percentage growth divided by the number of years for which there are net worth figures for each member.
- ↑ This figure was calculated using median asset data from the Census Bureau. Please see the Congressional Net Worth data for Ballotpedia spreadsheet for more information on this calculation.
- ↑ OpenSecrets.org, "Sen. Mike Johanns," accessed September 18, 2014
- ↑ GovTrack, "Mike Johanns," accessed July 22, 2014
- ↑ OpenCongress, "Mike Johanns," archived March 5, 2016
- ↑ GovTrack, "Mike Johanns," accessed July 22, 2014
- ↑ LegiStorm, "Mike Johanns," accessed August 16, 2012
- ↑ National Journal, "2013 Congressional Vote Ratings," accessed July 22, 2014
- ↑ National Journal, "TABLE: House Liberal Scores by Issue Area," accessed February 26, 2013
- ↑ National Journal, "Searchable Vote Ratings Tables: House," accessed February 23, 2012
- ↑ OpenCongress, "Voting With Party," accessed July 2014
- ↑ OpenCongress, "Voting With Party," accessed July 2014
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Chuck Hagel |
U.S. Senate - Nebraska 2009-2015 |
Succeeded by Ben Sasse |
| Preceded by Ann Veneman |
United States Secretary of Agriculture 2005-2007 |
Succeeded by Ed Schafer |
| Preceded by Ben Nelson |
Governor of Nebraska 1999-2005 |
Succeeded by Dave Heineman |
| Preceded by Bill Harris |
Mayor of Lincoln 1991-1998 |
Succeeded by Dale Young |
| Preceded by ' |
Lincoln City Council 1989-1991 |
Succeeded by ' |
| Preceded by ' |
Lancaster County Board 1983-1987 |
Succeeded by ' |
