Craig M. Johnson (born April 21, 1971) is an American politician and former

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

member of the

New York State Senate The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature; the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Its members are elected to two-year terms; there are no term limits. There are 63 seats in the Senate. Partisan com ...

for the 7th district.

Education and early career

Johnson earned a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree (''

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some So ...

'') from

Amherst College Amherst College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zephaniah Swift Moore, Amherst is the third oldest institution of higher educatio ...

in 1993. He earned his

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

degree (''

cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...

'') from St. John's University School of Law in 1996. He was admitted to the New York bar in 1997. Johnson has practiced law at the law firm of Jaspan Schlesinger Hoffman LLP in

Garden City, New York Garden City is a village located on Long Island in Nassau County New York. It is the Greater Garden City area's anchor community. The population was 23,272 at the 2020 census. The Incorporated Village of Garden City is primarily located within ...

Political career

Johnson was first elected to the

Nassau County Legislature The Nassau County Legislature is the lawmaking body of Nassau County, New York. Currently, it has 19 different members from 19 different districts. It was formed in 1996 to succeed the county's Board of Supervisors, which was ruled unconstitutio ...

in May 2000, succeeding his mother Barbara Johnson who died in March 2000. On February 6, 2007, he became the first male Democrat elected to the State Senate from

North Hempstead North Hempstead is one of three towns in Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 237,639 at the 2020 census. History The area was first settled by Europeans around 1643 and became part of the town of Hemps ...

in more than a century. He represented the 7th Senatorial District, which includes all of North Hempstead and parts of Hempstead and Oyster Bay. He chaired the Senate Investigations and Government Operations Committee. In the November 2, 2010 general election, Mineola Mayor

Jack Martins Joaquim "Jack" M. Martins (born June 19, 1967) is an American attorney and politician serving as a member of the New York State Senate for the 7th district. A Republican, he previously served as mayor of Mineola, New York. Early life and educ ...

, Johnson's Republican challenger (who was also backed by the Independence and Conservative Parties), defeated Johnson by 451 votes. On December 20, 2010, New York's highest court rejected Johnson's final appeal in regard to the election results.

Personal life

Johnson lives in

Port Washington, New York Port Washington is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) on the Cow Neck Peninsula in the North Hempstead, New York, Town of North Hempstead, in Nassau County, New York, Nassau County, on the North Shore (Long Island), No ...

with his wife Elizabeth and three children.

Election results

* February 2007

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-larges ...

, NYS Senate, 7th SD : * November 2008

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

, NYS Senate, 7th SD : * November 2010

, NYS Senate, 7th SD :

References

External links