Hank Johnson
Democrat Representative of Georgia's 4th district
Representative
Georgia, district 4
January 4, 2007 - January 3, 2009
Representative
Georgia, district 4
January 6, 2009 - January 3, 2011
Representative
Georgia, district 4
January 5, 2011 - January 3, 2013
Representative
Georgia, district 4
January 3, 2013 - January 3, 2015
Representative
Georgia, district 4
January 6, 2015 - January 3, 2017
Representative
Georgia, district 4
January 3, 2017 - January 3, 2019
Representative
Georgia, district 4
January 3, 2019 - January 3, 2021
Representative
Georgia, district 4
January 3, 2021 - January 3, 2023
Representative
Georgia, district 4
January 3, 2023 - January 3, 2025
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