Former Sen. Tim Johnson, the last Democrat to hold statewide office in South Dakota, dies at 77

SIOUX FALLS, SD — Former Sen. Tim Johnson, a centrist who was the last Democrat to hold statewide office in South Dakota and who was adept at securing federal funding for projects back home during his three decades in Washington, has died. He was 77.

Johnson, who was first elected to Congress in 1986 and retired from the Senate in 2015, died Tuesday evening of complications from a recent stroke, family friend Steve Hildebrand said in a news release. He was surrounded by family.

South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem ordered flags to be flown at half-staff in Johnson’s honor.

Just a month after Democrats won back the Senate by a one-vote margin in 2006, Johnson became disoriented during a media conference and underwent emergency brain surgery. He had suffered a life-threatening brain hemorrhage, leading to what many called an inappropriate round of speculation in Washington about which party would control the next Senate.

But nine months later he returned to Washington, physically weaker yet mentally sharp. He later joked by opening his first post-surgery media conference call with, “Like I said….”

Johnson, a fourth-generation South Dakotan, was known for his set demeanor, his unpredictable votes and his ability to secure federal funding for his state, including money that helped pay for the University of South Dakota’s medical sciences complex.

Democrats could never take his votes for granted. Johnson bombarded his party with votes for a ban on abortion later in pregnancies and flag desecration. He also voted to confirm Judge Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court, who was nominated by Republican President George W. Bush.

And in one of the decisive votes of his career, Johnson voted to authorize the use of force in Iraq in 2002, even though he had a very personal reason for voting no. His son, Brooks, was a 32-year-old staff sergeant in the Army’s 101st Airborne Division and was said to be one of the first sent to the region.

“I spoke to Brooks prior to this vote and his response was, ‘Dad, you do what’s right for the country and I’ll do what’s right as a soldier,’” Johnson recalled. “I said in the Senate that it is very likely that I would send my own son into battle.”

Brooks, who also served in Bosnia, Kosovo and South Korea, returned safely after serving in the Middle East.

The former senator was not one to seek fame and joked about his reputation for being quiet and reserved.

“I know I get a rap for being these kind of strict Scandinavians, but I think we Scandinavians have a sense of humor too,” told The Associated Press in 2002. “I enjoy life. I think there are a lot of things in living that is fun and that we can joke about. It would be a sad life for anyone who cannot laugh and laugh at themselves.

In December 2006, Johnson suffered a hemorrhage in his brain, caused by a birth defect. His illness raised the possibility that, if he became incapacitated, the Republican governor of South Dakota would appoint a Republican successor and the Senate, then controlled by Democrats 51-49, would return to Republican Party control. to take.

Johnson returned to his Senate office in September 2007, using a scooter and speaking slowly and slurred. Cameras jostled as he slid through the door next to South Dakota Sen. John Thune, a Republican, and Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, a Democrat. The staff cheered as he entered the office. He said he felt ‘good’.

He continued to recover and subsequently won re-election. But in 2013, as South Dakota turned sharply Republican, he announced his intention to retire.

At the time, he said that in his 28 years in the House and Senate, it had become increasingly difficult to achieve bipartisan compromise because winning elections came to overshadow everything else.

“We have lost our way,” Johnson lamented in his farewell speech on December 11, 2014.

Born in Canton, South Dakota, Johnson earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of South Dakota, where he also met his wife Barbara Brooks of Sioux Falls. Johnson went on to earn a master’s degree in public administration and a law degree from college.

Johnson started a law practice in Vermillion in 1975 and ran for statewide office in 1978. He served four years in the South Dakota House and another four years in the Senate before setting his sights on Washington.

He was elected to South Dakota’s lone U.S. House seat in 1986 and served five terms before moving to the U.S. Senate in 1996.

Johnson was re-elected to the Senate in 2002, narrowly defeating then-Rep. John Thune. During the 2006 term, he served on the Senate Appropriations Committee, the Budget Committee, the Banking Committee, the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and the Indian Affairs Committee.

Aside from the national fame he gained for his razor-thin reelection victory, political observers said the South Dakota senator wasn’t going for show.

Ted Muenster, president of the University of South Dakota Foundation, described Johnson as pragmatic and centrist.

“He has always been a voice of calm reason when discussing public issues,” Münster, a fellow Democrat from Vermillion, said at the time.

Johnson brought home millions of dollars for water projects like Lewis & Clark, Mni Wiconi and Mid-Dakota – and assisted his alma mater. When the University of South Dakota Medical Science Complex was built, Münster said the construction was done “with a good amount of federal funds directly attributable to (Johnson’s) efforts in Congress.”

The Johnsons had two sons and a daughter: Brooks, Brendan, a lawyer from Sioux Falls, and Kelsey, who works in public service in Washington.

Johnson and his wife were battling cancer. The former senator underwent treatment for prostate cancer in 2004 and Barb Johnson is a breast cancer survivor.