La Tonya Johnson

LaTonya Johnson (born June 22, 1972) is an American activist and politician from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She serves in the Wisconsin State Senate, representing the seat formerly held by Nikiya Harris Dodd, having easily defeated her opponents in the Fall 2016 primary election, and being unopposed in the general election.

This article is about the politician. For the basketball player, see LaTonya Johnson.
LaTonya Johnson
Senator Johnson during a Legislative Children's Caucus meeting in 2020
Member of the Wisconsin Senate
from the 6th district
Assumed office
January 3, 2017
Preceded byNikiya Harris Dodd
Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly
from the 17th district
In office
January 1, 2013 – January 3, 2017
Preceded byBarbara Toles
Succeeded byDavid Crowley
Personal details
Born (1972-06-22) June 22, 1972
La Grange, Tennessee, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Residence(s)Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Alma materUniversity of Wisconsin–Milwaukee
Tennessee State University (BS)
ProfessionChildcare provider
Trade union activist

Background

Johnson was born June 22, 1972[1] in La Grange, Tennessee. She earned a B.S. degree in criminal justice from Tennessee State University, and has lived in Milwaukee for twenty-eight years. She owned and operated Anointed Child Care Service, an in-home daycare service, and served as president of Local 502 of AFSCME, the union which represents in-home daycare providers in Milwaukee County.[2][3] She has one daughter, Sydney.

Nomination and election

Assembly

When Barbara Toles resigned from her Assembly District 17 seat, Johnson was one of four candidates who vied for the Democratic nomination in this recently redistricted[4] inner city district. She achieved an easy plurality, with 43% of the vote, in a field which included a former Milwaukee Area Technical College Board member with UAW ties, and an aide to State Representative Elizabeth Coggs.[5][6]

In the general election, she drew 20,262 votes, to 3564 for her sole opponent, banker Anthony Edwards.[7]

Senate

In November 2016, Johnson was elected to the Wisconsin State Senate. She had easily defeated two opponents (local government lobbyist Thomas Harris and Milwaukee School Board member Michael Bonds) in the August Democratic primary,[8] and was unopposed in the general election.[9] In 2020, she defeated primary challenger Michelle Bryant, the chief of staff for State Senator Lena Taylor. In the general election, she defeated Alciro Deacon in a landslide.[10]

Controversy

During a discussion in the state senate on the state budget, Johnson criticized Republican policies that she believed contribute to crime in Milwaukee, including inaction on gun control. She provided an anecdote about a little girl's funeral she attended who was killed by a stray bullet, and that she has lost count of how many children's funerals she has attended because of gun violence. Johnson accused Republicans of only taking action now because the crime was affecting their suburban communities.[11]

She ended her comments by saying "fuck the suburbs, because they don't know a goddamn thing about life in the city."[12] This comment received national attention, and Steve Schuster said Johnson should step down from her position.[13] Others came to her defense, including Wisconsin journalist Dan Shafer, who wrote "I grew up in the suburbs and live in the city and it’s incredible how misconstrued and flat-out wrong suburban perceptions of Milwaukee can be."[14] Johnson later apologized for her comments, saying "Although I stand by the context of my speech, I could have used a different choice of words on the Senate floor. I apologize for using those specific words." [15]

References
  1. official page on Assembly website
  2. Bauter, Alison. "A look at Democrats running in 17th Assembly District" Milwaukee Journal Sentinel August 11, 2012
  3. Local 502 home page
  4. District Map based on 2011 Wisconsin Act 43
  5. CBS 58 Election Results
  6. Bauter, Alison. "Union leader Johnson takes Toles' District 17 Assembly seat" Milwaukee Journal Sentinel blog; August 14, 2012
  7. Nov. 6 general election results:Assembly Dist. 17 jsonline.com November 7, 2012
  8. "Wisconsin Elections and Ethics Commissions, "2016 Partisan Primary," accessed January 7, 2017" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on December 20, 2016. Retrieved January 7, 2017.
  9. "Wisconsin 6th District State Senate Results: La Tonya Johnson Wins". The New York Times. 2017-08-01. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-05-07.
  10. "LaTonya Johnson". BallotPedia. Retrieved 18 May 2022.
  11. "Wisconsin State Senate Floor Session". WisconsinEye. 29 June 2023.
  12. "Wisconsin state senator says 'f--- the suburbs' amid debate on crime spreading from cities". Fox News. 29 June 2023.
  13. "Editorial: LaTonya Johnson should resign from office, Wisconsin deserves better | Wisconsin Law Journal - WI Legal News & Resources". 29 June 2023.
  14. @DanRShafer (June 28, 2023). "She's not wrong. I grew up in the suburbs and live in the city and it's incredible how misconstrued and flat-out wrong suburban perceptions of Milwaukee can be" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  15. "Milwaukee senator apologizes after using expletive to address suburbs". Longview News Journal. 7 July 2023.
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