Constance N. Johnson facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Connie Johnson
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| Member of the Oklahoma Senate from the 48th district |
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| In office November 2005 – November 2014 |
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| Preceded by | Angela Monson |
| Succeeded by | Anastasia Pittman |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Constance Nevlin Johnson
May 11, 1952 Holdenville, Oklahoma, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Other political affiliations |
Democratic Socialists of America |
| Education | University of Pennsylvania (BA) Langston University (MS) |
Constance "Connie" Nevlin Johnson (born May 11, 1952) is an American politician from Oklahoma. She was a member of the Oklahoma Senate from 2005 to 2014, where she represented the 48th district in Oklahoma County.
In 2014, Johnson made history. She became the first African American woman in Oklahoma to be chosen by a major party to run for a big statewide office. She was also the first woman from any party in Oklahoma to run for the U.S. Senate.
Johnson has also run for Governor of Oklahoma. She is a member of the Democratic Party and the Democratic Socialists of America.
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Early Life and Schooling
Connie Johnson was born in Holdenville, Oklahoma, in 1952. She went to Frederick A. Douglass High School in Oklahoma City.
After high school, she attended the University of Pennsylvania, where she earned a bachelor's degree in French. Later, she received a master's degree in Rehabilitation Counseling from Langston University.
A Career in Politics
Before being elected, Johnson worked as a legislative analyst for the Oklahoma State Senate for over 20 years, from 1981 to 2005. A legislative analyst studies laws and helps senators understand them.
In 2005, she won a special election to become the senator for District 48. The people in her district re-elected her in 2006 and 2010.
What did she do in the Senate?
As a senator, Johnson was part of many committees. Committees are small groups of senators who focus on specific topics like health, transportation, or money. Being on a committee allows a senator to become an expert on certain issues.
Some of the committees she served on were:
- Health and Human Services
- Transportation
- Energy
- Finance
- Rules
- General Government
- Veterans and Military Affairs
A Bill About When Life Begins
In the Senate, Johnson once faced a bill called Senate Bill 1433. This bill said that a human life, with full legal rights, begins at fertilization.
Johnson disagreed with this bill. To show why she thought it was unfair to women, she added her own amendment. An amendment is a change to a proposed law. Her amendment was designed to make people think about the bill in a new way. Her actions helped lead to the bill being defeated.
Running for National Office
On April 8, 2014, Johnson announced she would run for the United States Senate. She won the Democratic primary election, which is an election to decide who will be the party's main candidate.
This victory made her the first woman from Oklahoma to be nominated by a major party for the U.S. Senate. In the final election, she ran against Republican James Lankford. Johnson did not win the election, but her campaign was an important moment in Oklahoma's history.
Working for Change
Death Penalty Reform
The death penalty is a type of punishment where a person is put to death for a crime. Johnson has worked to change the laws about this in Oklahoma. She led a group called the Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.
In 2016, she led a campaign against a law that would have added the death penalty to Oklahoma's constitution. Her campaign helped educate voters on the issue.
Working with the Democratic Party
In 2015, Johnson was elected as the vice chair of the Oklahoma Democratic Party. She believed the party needed to do more to encourage people to vote. She supported letting independent voters (people not registered with any party) vote in the Democratic primary.
In 2016, she was the only top delegate from Oklahoma to support Senator Bernie Sanders for president at the Democratic National Convention.
Campaigns for Governor
Johnson has run for Governor of Oklahoma twice. The governor is the leader of the state's government.
- 2018: She ran for the Democratic nomination but lost to former Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson.
- 2022: She ran again, but this time she lost the Democratic primary to Joy Hofmeister, who was the state's Superintendent of Public Instruction.
2024 Oklahoma Senate Campaign
In 2024, Johnson decided to run for her old seat in the Oklahoma Senate. She ran in the Democratic primary against Nikki Nice, a councilor from Oklahoma City. Johnson did not win the primary election.
See also
- List of Democratic Socialists of America who have held office in the United States
- List of African-American United States Senate candidates
