SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — 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 nearly 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 night of complications from a recent stroke, family friend Steve Hildebrand said in a news release. He was surrounded by family.
“Tim always quipped that neither the left, nor the right, had a monopoly on all of the good ideas, but that working together, we can find common ground for the good of our country,” Johnson’s family said in the news release. “In his work and life, Tim showed us never to give up.”
That resilience was tested in 2006. Just a month after Democrats reclaimed the Senate by a one-vote margin, Johnson became disoriented during a media conference call and underwent emergency brain surgery. He’d suffered a life-threatening brain hemorrhage, sparking what many called an unseemly round of speculation in Washington about which party would control the next Senate.
But he returned to Washington nine months later, physically weaker yet mentally sharp. He later joked by opening his first post-surgery media conference call with: “As I was saying… .”
A fourth-generation South Dakotan, Johnson was known for his steady manner, his unpredictable votes and his ability to secure federal funding for his state, including money that helped pay for the University of South Dakota medical science complex.
Democrats never could take his votes for granted. Johnson bucked his party by backing bans on abortions later in pregnancies and flag desecration. He also voted to confirm U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, who was nominated by Republican President George W. Bush.
And in one of his career’s defining moments, Johnson voted in 2002 to authorize the use of force in Iraq, even though he had a deeply personal reason to oppose it. His son, Brooks, was a 32-year-old staff sergeant with the Army’s 101st Airborne Division and would be among the first sent to the region.
“I talked to Brooks prior to this vote and his response was, ‘Dad, you do what is right for the country and I’ll do what is right as a soldier,'” Johnson recalled. “I said on the (Senate) floor that it’s very likely I would be sending my own son into combat.”
Brooks, who also served in Bosnia, Kosovo and South Korea, returned safely after serving in the Middle East.
Drey Samuelson, who served as Johnson’s chief of staff for all 28 years he served in Congress, said Johnson appealed to Republicans and Democrats alike because he worked hard and was willing to listen to both sides.
“He never saw himself as the Democratic member in Congress from South Dakota,” Samuelson said. “He saw himself as the congressman or senator from South Dakota, regardless of people’s party.”
The former senator joked about his reputation for being reserved.
“I know I get a rap as this sort of dour Scandinavian, but I think that we Scandinavians have a sense of humor, too,” Johnson told The Associated Press in 2002. “I enjoy life. I think there are a lot of things in life that are fun and we can joke about. It would be a sad life for anybody who can’t laugh, and laugh at himself as well.”
In December 2006, Johnson suffered bleeding in his brain caused by a congenital malformation. His ailment raised the possibility that, were he to be incapacitated, South Dakota’s Republican governor would appoint a Republican successor and return the Senate, then controlled by Democrats 51-49, to GOP control.
Johnson returned to his Senate office in September 2007, using a scooter and with his speaking slow and slurred. Cameras crowded around as he scooted through the door alongside South Dakota Sen. John Thune, a Republican, and Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, a Democrat. Staffers cheered as he entered the office.
He continued to recover and went on to win reelection. But in 2013, as South Dakota turned sharply Republican, he announced he planned to retire.
At the time, he said it had become harder and harder over his 28 years in the House and Senate to strike bipartisan compromise, as winning elections came to overshadow everything else.
“We have lost our way,” Johnson lamented in his parting speech on Dec. 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 the university.
Johnson started a law practice in Vermillion in 1975, and ran for statewide office in 1978. He served for four years in the South Dakota House and another four years in the state 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 reelected to the Senate in 2002, narrowly defeating Thune, then a congressman, by just over 500 votes.
“Known for his tenacity and work ethic, Tim was a steadfast leader who dedicated his life to serving the people of South Dakota with integrity and compassion,” Thune said in a statement. “He fought tirelessly for rural America and leaves a legacy that will have a lasting impact for years to come.”
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem ordered flags be flown at half-staff to honor Johnson.
The Johnsons had two sons and a daughter: Brooks, Brendan, a Sioux Falls lawyer, and Kelsey, who works in public service in Washington.
Johnson and his wife fought cancer. The former senator underwent treatment for prostate cancer in 2004, and Barb Johnson survived breast cancer.