Johnson was elected to the House of Representatives in 1982 with 52 percent of the vote, defeating Democratic state senator William E. Curry Jr. She replaced Democrat Anthony "Toby" Moffett, who made an unsuccessful bid for the U.S. Senate that year.[2]
She won narrowly in her re-election bid in 1996, defeating Democrat Charlotte Koskoff 50%–49%, her only close race for re-election.[3] She attributed her decreased percentage to the time she had spent on the House ethics panel, dealing with ethics allegations against Speaker Newt Gingrich, which prevented her from getting around in her district.[citation needed] She won in 1998, again against Koskoff, with 59% of the vote, and got 63% of the vote in 2000 against Paul Valenti.
In 2002, Johnson's New Britain-based district was merged with the Waterbury-based 5th District of Democratic Congressman James H. Maloney. While the new district retained Maloney's district number, its geography and demographics slightly favored Johnson. Johnson won the general election with 54% of the vote. In 2004, she defeated Democrat Theresa Gerratana, getting 60% of the vote.
In April 2006, Johnson became the target of a negative ad campaign run by a political action committee, MoveOn.org, which alleged ties to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff and former Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX). Johnson responded with her own advertising campaign dismissing the charges and strongly attacking Murphy, accusing him of not disavowing the MoveOn attack ads.
Johnson had a large cash advantage over her challenger. In April 2006, Johnson reported that she had raised $436,000 in the first quarter of the year, with 60% of that coming from PACs, and 56% from contributors from outside Connecticut.[6] In the second quarter of 2006 she raised almost $800,000, and had cash on hand, as of June 30, 2006, of $2.6 million.[7]
In late October, Chris Murphy had a slight lead, and heading into the election, polls showed him ahead by four points.[8] Johnson ultimately lost the race in November to Chris Murphy by 12 points;[9] the only House incumbent to suffer a worse defeat was John Hostettler (IN-08).
Articles in the Hartford Courant speculated that Johnson's negative TV ads, which accused Murphy of coddling sex offenders and drug dealers, may have proven counterproductive.[9] Johnson won only six of the district's 41 towns, losing many areas that had reliably supported her in the past. For instance, she lost badly in New Britain, an area she had represented for 30 years at both the federal and state level. She had failed to carry New Britain in her last two elections.
Ideology
Johnson is a moderate Republican. She called herself "an independent voice in Washington",[10] although she frequently supported the mainstream Republican agenda. Some nonpartisan observers such as National Journal rated her near the ideological midpoint in the House, although others, like the American Conservative Union (ACU) rated her as a moderate conservative. The ACU gave Johnson's 2005 voting record 40 points out of 100; the liberal Americans for Democratic Action gave her 35 points. In general, she was moderate-to-liberal on social issues and conservative on economic ones.
In 1998, Johnson voted for two of the four articles of impeachment then-President Bill Clinton—the only member of the Connecticut delegation to support Clinton's impeachment.
In 2003, Johnson voted with the House Democrats to oppose Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act. The bill was passed by a large majority 281–142 on October 2, 2003.
In 2006, Johnson attracted considerable controversy after voting against a Republican budget reconciliation bill that passed the House by two votes. She was one of 14 moderate Republicans that crossed party lines to side with Democrats against it.
In 2005, Johnson supported the White House plan to partially privatize Social Security, and voted for a measure sponsored by then-Majority Leader Tom DeLay that would have weakened House Ethics rules.[12]
One of Johnson's central issues is health care. She was one of the authors of the Medicare Part Dprescription drug benefit program, which took effect in 2006. On May 15, 2006, Johnson announced she would submit legislation to waive penalties for those who miss deadlines to enroll in Medicare Part D, reacting to widespread criticism of the Johnson-authored program. Her bill was unsuccessful but was supported by the AARP.[13]
She also authored the legislation that allowed welfare recipients to remain eligible for Medicaid, adding a more moderate influence to the welfare reform law.[14]
Committees
In 1988, Johnson became the first Republican woman to be named to the powerful Ways and Means Committee. She eventually rose to chair three separate Ways and Means subcommittees.[15]
With the retirement of Ways and Means Committee chairman Bill Thomas (R-CA) at the end of the 109th Congress in 2006, Johnson was a possible candidate to replace him as chairman if Republicans were to retain the House and Johnson retained her seat in the November elections.[16] Neither happened.
Connecticut is a center of the pharmaceutical industry with Pfizer and Bayer operating major facilities in the state. According to the nonpartisan OpenSecrets, Johnson had been one of the leading Congressional recipients of contributions from the pharmaceutical industry, receiving $534,830 in related contributions since 2000.[18][failed verification]
In October 2007, Johnson endorsed former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani's bid for the Republican presidential nomination.[21]
In 2013, Johnson was a signatory to an amicus curiae brief submitted to the Supreme Court in support of same-sex marriage during the Hollingsworth v. Perry case.[22]
Personal life
Johnson is married to Theodore Johnson, an obstetrics and gynaecology (OBGYN) physician; and has three adult daughters.[23]
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