nm_gov_johnson
GOVERNOR GARY JOHNSON
Age: 45 Born: January 1, 1953; Minot, North Dakota Education: University of New Mexico, B.S. (1976) Military: None Family: Married - Dee; Two children Hometown: Santa Fe, New Mexico Religion: Lutheran Career: Governor (1995-present); Owner, Big J Enterprises, a construction services company (1976-present) |
• Johnson was born in Minot, North Dakota, and his family moved to Albuquerque in 1966. His father was a World War II veteran and public school teacher, and his mother worked at the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
• Johnson attended Sandia High School where he played several sports and flipped hamburgers for pocket money. He went to the University of New Mexico and worked his way through school as a handyman. He also worked as a part-time ski instructor, where he met his wife, the former Dee Simms, who taught at the same resort.
• They married in 1976, the same year Johnson graduated from college. Together they turned Johnson's fledgling handyman business into a multi-million dollar industrial construction firm named Big J Enterprises, after a high school nickname. Since being elected, Governor Johnson has placed control of the company in a blind trust.
• Before announcing his candidacy in 1993, Johnson was virtually unknown to state party leaders. In 1994, with some help from his personal fortune as well as Green Party candidate Roberto Mondragon, who siphoned some votes away from the Democratic incumbent, Johnson unseated longtime Governor Bruce King by 10 percentage points.
• Johnson has used the GovernorÂ's office to promote physical fitness. In 1994, he launched a 550-mile bike ride across the state that combines fitness with cleaning the environment, and he has participated in it each year since then. A nationally ranked triathlete before he was electd, he is the only Governor ever to have participated in the Ironman Triathlon -- an event which requires contestants to swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles, and run 26.2 miles. The July 1998 issue of Runners World magazine features Johnson being honored for completing the competition. When he leaves office, Johnson plans to climb Mt. Everest.
• Although Johnson locked horns with the Democratic legislature early in his administration and has vetoed a record 200 out of 424 bills passed, he has earned the support of party leaders and ran unopposed for the GOP nomination this year.