Louisiana House Republicans formally elected State Representative Mike Johnson (R-Pineville) as the state’s Speaker Pro Tempore during an organizational session on January 8.
After running unopposed in his reelection campaign in House District 27, Johnson made it his first priority to advocate for unity amongst House GOP members seeking to elect a new Speaker of the House.
“I’m trying to make sure we as a Republican party are not divided and the way to do that is to get pledges from our Republican members to agree that we should support one candidate and that candidate will have the votes from the Republicans to be elected, and then he can move forward in leadership with the full support of the Republicans. Then I hope he will get the full support of the Democrats also,” Johnson said.
Prior to the election for Speaker of the House, Johnson yielded immense success in getting his fellow legislators to agree to the unity pledge, including from legislators seeking the role of Speaker themselves. House Republicans would need 53 votes to elect a new speaker. Working closely with newly-elected Governor Jeff Landry, Johnson wasted no time to make sure that unity prevailed in this new chapter of Louisiana governance.
The House of Representatives ultimately elected Phillip Devillier (R-Eunice) to serve as Speaker of the House.
As Speaker Pro Tempore, Johnson will be second in command in the House and aid the house speaker in conducting business in the chamber.
With inaugural festivities behind Baton Rouge, the house legislature and Johnson will be getting straight to work with a Special Session focused on redistricting expected to convene on Monday, January 15 and an additional Special Session expected to be called by Governor Landry on Monday, January 19 with a focus on crime reduction.
Johnson said he views this opportunity as a “unique position” to serve both the interests of his House District 27 region along with the entire state and his fellow legislators. As a Pineville resident, Johnson knows firsthand the importance of the CenLA region and using his House leadership position to continue his advocacy for his home region.
“We were not overlooked in Central Louisiana when it came to projects, to LSUA, to the hurricane center, to roads, and there’s no question that that would be the case,” said Johnson.
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