WILLMAR -- Senate Majority Leader Dean Johnson, DFL-Willmar, voiced thanks and concerns after losing a tightly fought election to Sen.-elect Joe Gimse, R-Willmar.
In a news release issued Wednesday afternoon, Johnson thanked voters in District 13 for his 24 years in the Minnesota Senate. Johnson fell short Tuesday of an eighth consecutive term in the Senate by 553 votes. The loss was Johnson's first in a 30-year political career but he said in the news release that he was "proud of all that we, together, have accomplished."
"I have fond memories of my tenure in the Minnesota Legislature," he said.
Johnson went on to voice concerns, commenting on how the real losers in Tuesday's election were the voters of District 13, who not only lost a senate majority leader, but replaced him with a "freshman member in the minority party."
Johnson also criticized the bitterly fought campaign against him and unease about influence of outside special interest groups.
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"Outside groups literally poured tens of thousands of dollars into viciously negative literature, newspaper and radio ads, each with one intent: smearing my character and record," he said in the release. "This atrocious bombardment was simply an effort to take attention away from the issues that really matter."
Johnson first held political office in 1976 as a member of the Willmar City Council. He went on to serve in the Minnesota House of Representatives in 1978 and 1980. Johnson began his career as a senator in 1982, winning re-election six consecutive times. Johnson also recently retired from a 37-year military career in the United States Army National Guard, holding the rank of brigadier general.
--Staff reports
