Johnson grew up in Johnson City, Tennessee, and graduated from Science Hill High School in 1997.^[11] He then earned a bachelor's degree in political science from Belmont University and a Master of Public Policy degree from Pepperdine University.^[12] Johnson was a Koch Fellow at the Institute for Humane Studies and the American Enterprise Institute.^[13]

Tennessee Center for Policy Research edit

Johnson founded the Tennessee Center for Policy Research (TCPR) in 2004. Under his leadership, the organization used the Tennessee Open Records Act of obtain Al Gore's home energy bills the day after the former Vice President won an Academy Award for the climate change documentary An Inconvenient Truth.^[14] The records showed that, in 2006, Gore's Belle Meade, Tennessee home consumed nearly 221,000 kWh of electricity—more than 20 times the national average.^[15] In 2006, Gore spent an average of $1,359 per month to power the home.^[15]

After releasing Al Gore's home energy consumption, Johnson and other TCPR employees received death threats, harassing emails and threatening phone calls from Gore supporters and environmental activists.^[16][17][18]

Johnson left TCPR at the end of 2009.^[19] In May 2011, the Taxpayers Protection Alliance announced that he would join that organization as a senior fellow.^[20]

Chattanooga Times Free Press edit

On July 1, 2012, Johnson joined the Chattanooga Times Free Press as opinion editor for the Free Press editorial page, writing editorials and a weekly column.^[12] Under Johnson, the Chattanooga Times Free Press became the largest newspaper in the United States to endorse Libertarian Party presidential candidate Gary Johnson during the 2012 United States presidential election cycle.^[21]

On August 1, 2013 the newspaper announced that Johnson was terminated for violating the newspaper's standards in altering an editorial headline to tell Barack Obama to "Take Your Jobs Plan and Shove It," a play on the classic country music song "Take This Job and Shove It."^[22] The newspaper stated the alteration was "inappropriate" and that Johnson did not follow normal editing procedures.^[23] Johnson later claimed that his firing was a result of the criticizing Chattanooga's electric company, EPB, one of the newspaper's largest advertisers.^[24] "When I explained how EPB scammed taxpayers out of hundreds of millions of dollars...EPB pulled its ads from the paper," Johnson said. "I know the paper was frustrated with losing money because I was willing to speak the truth about bad actors in the community."^[24]

Media and think tanks edit

Johnson then joined The Washington Times as a columnist, editorial writer and author of the newspaper's weekly "Golden Hammer" column, which exposed an egregious example of wasteful spending of tax dollars.^[25][26] Johnson also hosted a weekly "Golden Hammer" television segment based on the column that was available on some Sinclair Broadcast Group stations' local news broadcasts.^[27]

In April 2016, Johnson was named National Director of Protect Internet Freedom, a group formed to push back on new net neutrality rules and federal preemption of state laws limiting municipal broadband buildouts.^[28] He joined the National Center for Public Policy Research as a senior scholar in 2017.^[14]

Johnson again investigated Al Gore's home energy use in a 2017 report written for the National Center for Public Policy Research.^[14] According to information obtained through the Nashville Electric Service, energy consumption at Gore's Nashville-area house increased from 2006 to 2017, despite installing 33 solar panels on the home following the initial criticism.^[14] In 2017, Gore's home used 21.3 times more energy per month than a typical American household.^[14]

Johnson has espoused libertarian and free market positions in his columns, editorials and media interviews.

He has opposed the death penalty and the Patriot Act, spoken out against anti-Muslim bias and criticized Republicans for increasing government spending.^[29][30][31] He has also written in support of free speech, gay marriage and drug legalization.^[32][33]

Johnson served as commissioner on the Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth from 1997 to 2006, and was named to the Tennessee Advisory Committee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights in 2008.^[34]

He currently serves as the public member of the Nevada State Board of Optometry.^[35]

He is married to marketing consultant and travel blogger Sarah Reeves Johnson and they live in Las Vegas.

Johnson is credited with starting the Vegas Golden Knights' "Victory Flamingo" tradition, in which fans of the NHL team toss pink plastic flamingos on the ice in celebration of Vegas Golden Knights victories.^[36][37][38]

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