Hank Johnson

Democrat Representative of Georgia's 4th district

  • Representative

    Georgia, district 4

    January 3, 2023 - January 3, 2025

202-225-1605

@RepHankJohnson

hankjohnson.house.gov

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9

Congresses Served

9

House Terms

October 2, 1954 (70 years old)

Birthday

  • Serves as the U.S. representative for Georgia’s 4th congressional district since 2007
  • One of only three Buddhists to have served in the United States Congress
  • Grew up in Washington, D.C., with a father who worked for the Bureau of Prisons
  • Holds a B.A. degree from Clark College (now Clark Atlanta University) and a J.D. degree from Texas Southern University Thurgood Marshall School of Law
  • Practiced law for more than 25 years in Decatur, Georgia
  • Served as an associate judge of the DeKalb County magistrate’s court from 1989 to 2001
  • Elected to the DeKalb County Commission, serving from 2001 to 2006
  • Won the 2006 Democratic primary for the 4th district by defeating Cynthia McKinney and subsequently won the general election
  • Has been reelected multiple times, often with a significant majority
  • Was the first Democratic congressman in Georgia to endorse Barack Obama in the 2008 Democratic presidential primary
  • Criticized the war in Iraq and introduced a bill to take U.S. troops off street patrol duty in Iraq
  • Has been a critic of Israel’s occupation policies
  • Supported legislation aimed at strengthening the U.S. civil justice system and protecting consumer access to civil courts
  • Voted against the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) and for the Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
  • Demanded censure of Representative Joe Wilson for his “you lie” outburst during Obama’s 2009 health care reform speech
  • Made a controversial comment about Guam tipping over, later clarified as a metaphor
  • Named the 18th most effective Democrat in the 112th Congress in a study by Vanderbilt University and the University of Virginia
  • Served as a member of the United States House Judiciary Task Force on Judicial Impeachment
  • Called for the impeachment of President Donald Trump due to the Trump-Ukraine scandal
  • Voted “Most Clueless” by congressional staffers in The Washingtonian’s “Best & Worst of Congress” list in 2014
  • Holds committee assignments in the Judiciary and Transportation and Infrastructure committees
  • Member of several caucuses including the Congressional Progressive Caucus and the Congressional Black Caucus
  • Married to attorney and DeKalb County Commissioner Mereda Davis Johnson, with two children
  • Battled Hepatitis C, which affected his speech and cognitive functions, but completed treatment with improved health outcomes