Mike Johnson

James Michael Johnson, known publicly as Mike Johnson, was born on January 30, 1972 in Shreveport, Louisiana, the eldest of four children to Jeanne and James Patrick “Pat” Johnson. Raised by teenage parents and witnessing his father’s traumatic injury while serving as a firefighter, he was inspired to pursue a different path, graduating from Captain Shreve High School before earning a B.S. in business administration from Louisiana State University in 1995 and a J.D. from the Paul M. Hebert Law Center in 1998. He entered the legal arena as a constitutional attorney, serving as senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defending Freedom, defending Louisiana’s Amendment 1 marriage ban in 2004, and later founding the nonprofit Freedom Guard, where he litigated high‑profile religious‑liberty cases such as the Ark Encounter tax‑incentive lawsuit. His work on the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (2004‑2012) and his brief tenure as founding dean of the Pressler School of Law further cemented his reputation as a staunch defender of traditional Christian values. Johnson’s electoral career began in February 2015 when he won an unopposed race for the 8th District seat in the Louisiana House of Representatives, where he introduced the controversial Marriage and Conscience Act. In 2016 he captured Louisiana’s 4th congressional district and has been reelected every cycle, most recently in 2024 with 86 % of the vote. While in Congress he chaired the Republican Study Committee (2019‑2021), served as vice chair of the House Republican Conference (2021‑2023), and was a key architect of the 2020 election challenges. Following Kevin McCarthy’s ouster, Johnson was elected the 56th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives on October 25 2023, becoming the first speaker from Louisiana. His speakership has been marked by vigorous budget negotiations, bipartisan aid packages for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan, and a steadfast commitment to social‑conservative legislation on abortion, religious liberty, and education. Throughout his career he has balanced his roles as a Louisiana‑based lawyer, a professor at Liberty University, and a co‑host of the “Truth Be Told” podcast, while raising five children with his wife, Kelly Lary.