James Paul Johnson

James Paul Johnson (born June 2, 1930) is an American politician, lawyer and jurist from Colorado. He served in the United States House of Representatives as a Republican.

James Paul Johnson
Member of the Colorado Water Conservation Board
In office 1985–1987
Governor	Richard Lamm Roy Romer
Member of the Colorado Supreme Judicial Court Nominating Commission
In office 1984–1986
Governor	Richard Lamm
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Colorado's 4th district
In office January 3, 1973 – January 3, 1981
Preceded by	Wayne Aspinall
Succeeded by	Hank Brown
Judge of the Ault Municipal Court
In office 1962–1965
Personal details
Born	(1930-06-02) June 2, 1930 Yankton, South Dakota, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Education	Northwestern University (BA) University of Colorado (LLB)
Signature
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch/service	United States Marine Corps
Years of service	1952–1956
Battles/wars	Korean War

Life

James Paul Johnson was born in Yankton, Yankton County, South Dakota. He earned his B.A. from Northwestern University in 1952 and later earned an LL.B. from the University of Colorado in 1959. In 1952 he enlisted into the United States Marine Corps and served as a jet pilot during the Korean War from 1952 to 1956. He became a Christian missionary and went on a mission to convert the Aleutian natives in Alaska.[1]

He was admitted to the Colorado Bar in 1959 and briefly served in private practice prior to being named a deputy district attorney for the Eighth Judicial District of Colorado from 1959 to 1966. He was the Municipal Judge for Ault, Colorado from 1962 to 1965, and assistant district attorney from 1964 to 1966. He served as member of the Poudre R-1 School Board, Fort Collins from 1969 to 1971 and served as delegate to Colorado State Republican conventions from 1960 to 1972.

During the 1972 elections he was elected to the House of Representatives and served until 1981. In February 1978 he apologized for stating that President "Carter didn't declare war on the West(ern United States) he bombed us without a declaration of war." in response to Carter's water project policies.[2]

After leaving office he resumed practicing law in Fort Collins, Colorado. He served as member of the supreme court judicial nominating commission for state of Colorado from 1984 to 1986 and also served as a member of the Colorado Water Conservation Board from 1985 to 1987.

Electoral history

James Paul Johnson electoral history

1966 Colorado 4th Congressional District election[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Democratic	Wayne N. Aspinall (incumbent)	84,107	58.61%	-4.41%
	Republican	James Paul Johnson	59,404	41.39%	+4.41%
Total votes			'143,511'	'100.00%'

1972 Colorado 4th Congressional District election[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Republican	James Paul Johnson	94,994	51.03%	+6.11%
	Democratic	Alan Merson	91,151	48.97%	-6.11%
Total votes			'186,145'	'100.00%'

1974 Colorado 4th Congressional District election[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Republican	James Paul Johnson (incumbent)	82,982	52.05%	+1.02%
	Democratic	John Carroll	76,452	47.95%	-1.02%
Total votes			'159,434'	'100.00%'

1976 Colorado 4th Congressional District election[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Republican	James Paul Johnson (incumbent)	119,458	54.05%	+2.00%
	Democratic	Daniel Ogden	76,995	34.84%	-13.11%
	Independent	Dick Davis	20,398	9.23%	+9.23%
	Independent	Henry Thiel	4,167	1.89%	+1.89%
Total votes			'221,018'	'100.00%'

1978 Colorado 4th Congressional District election[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Republican	James Paul Johnson (incumbent)	103,121	61.18%	+7.13%
	Democratic	Morgan Smith	65,421	38.82%	+3.98%
Total votes			'168,542'	'100.00%'

References

1. "Thanksgiving crusade features missionary". The Morning Call. November 10, 1972. p. 13. Archived from the original on January 27, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
2. "Johnson: 'I apologize'". The Daily Sentinel. February 12, 1978. p. 24. Archived from the original on January 27, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
3. "CO District 4 1966". January 27, 2018.
4. "CO District 4 1972". July 20, 2016.
5. "CO District 4 1974". September 6, 2017.
6. "CO District 4 1976". January 12, 2016.
7. "CO District 4 1978". June 26, 2003.

External links

• United States Congress. "James Paul Johnson (id: J000148)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress website http://bioguide.congress.gov.

U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Wayne Aspinall	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Colorado's 4th congressional district 1973–1981	Succeeded by Hank Brown