Born on the Bayou: Inside new House Speaker nominee Mike Johnson's father's courage and bravery
SHREVEPORT, LOUISIANA: Louisiana Rep Mike Johnson has been selected by House Republicans as their fourth candidate to fill the position of House speaker following the historic ouster of Kevin McCarthy.
Johnson emerged as the latest contender for the post on Tuesday, October 24 after Tom Emmer of Minnesota, the No 3 House Republican, dropped his bid only hours after securing the nomination.
In a secret ballot, Johnson with 128 votes beat out Rep Byron Donalds, R-Fla, who got 29 votes. 44 votes went to candidates who weren't even in the running: 43 for former speaker Kevin McCarthy and one for Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan.
As the first nominee who appears to have a chance of becoming speaker, Johnson can only afford to lose four Republican votes on the House floor.
Following the nomination, Johnson told reporters he is 'very confident' he can get to 217 votes on the House floor on Wednesday, according to Daily Mail.
Johnson’s nomination has now brought attention to his political background and his family, especially his brave fire-father father.
Who is Mike Johnson's father?
Born in Shreveport, Johnson is the oldest of Jeanne Johnson and James Patrick Johnson's four chilren. James was a brave firefighter who joined the Shreveport Fire Department in 1974.
He initially served on the Hazardous Materials Response team and advanced to the position of Assistant Chief Training Officer, where he helped develop the continuing education college program for the SFD.
Mike was only 12 years old when his father suffered a deadly accident while working on a hazardous materials leak at Dixie Cold Storage Facility in September 1984.
James’ team was attempting to fix the leak when the whole facility blew up and burned 80 percent of his body with third-degree burns. However, he survived the accident despite a 5 percent chance to live.
His colleague Capt Percy R Johnson tragically died in the harrowing accident. In 1985, James co-founded and served as executive director of the nonprofit Percy R Johnson Burn Foundation, which has served more than 15,000 burn patients and their families and sponsors "Camp I'm Still Me" for children.
In addition, he was the founder and president of PM Hazmat, Inc, which has been creating and supplying vital safety and emergency response training programs and operational procedures to public safety organizations, businesses, and governments in the US and abroad for more than 20 years.
After accompanying Mike in his campaigns, James died on December 8, 2016, following a long battle with cancer, according to his obituary.
Mike Johnson remembers father
During a previous interview, Mike remembered his father, expressing how his life left an indelible mark on his faith. “It was a miraculous thing and everybody acknowledged it to be such. And I just knew that prayer worked and so that's never left me and it's been with me my whole life,” he told Tony Perkins in 2021.
“You look at those defining moments and they really do shape us. I mean, here you saw a couple of things one you grew up with a father who learned to work hard. Successful at it, willing to serve Fireman, first responder, difficult, dangerous job,” he remembered.
“But then you see how God intervenes and how faith is real,” the representative continued.