Bruce Edward Johnson (born May 25, 1960) is an American lawyer and Republican politician who was appointed the State of Ohio's 63rd lieutenant governor on January 5, 2005, to complete an unexpired term. Johnson concurrently served as Director of the Ohio Department of Development.

Johnson entered politics in Columbus, becoming Greg Lashutka's chief of staff after he managed Lashutka's successful 1991 campaign for mayor of Columbus. Johnson left that post when he was appointed to the Ohio Senate in 1994. After being elected to two terms and rising to the second highest post in the Senate, in 2001, Governor Bob Taft asked Johnson to join his cabinet as Director of the Ohio Department of Development. In 2005, Taft appointed him lieutenant governor. In December 2006, Johnson resigned a month before his term ended.

Background Johnson graduated from Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio with a bachelor of arts degree in economics before attending law school at Capital University in Columbus where he received his Juris Doctor degree in 1985. While at Bowling Green, he became a member of Delta Tau Delta International Fraternity.The Rainbow, vol. 132, no. 2, p. 10, He was admitted to the Ohio bar on November 4, 1985. After a year as an assistant city prosecutor in Columbus, he joined the firm of Chester, Willcox, and Saxbe in Columbus working there until 2001.

In 1991, Johnson was the campaign manager for Greg Lashutka's successful mayoral run in Columbus and became his chief of staff when Lashutka was sworn in. Johnson served in City Hall from 1992 to 1994. During this time, he helped abolish the city's Human Services Department and reorganize the city's operations.

He is presently a resident of the Columbus suburb of Westerville. He and his wife, Kelley have four children.

Enters the Ohio Senate Johnson was appointed by the Senate Republican caucus to the Third District Ohio Senate seat in the 120th General Assembly effective March 1, 1994, replacing Theodore W. Gray, a Republican of Upper Arlington who resigned after forty-three years in the Senate. The seat represented the eastern third of Franklin County, the suburbs of Columbus and the municipalities of Bexley, Canal Winchester, Obetz, New Albany, Whitehall, Gahanna, Reynoldsburg and Westerville, part of Worthington, and a sliver of the northern edge of the county. Johnson took the oath from Ohio Chief Justice Thomas J. Moyer.

Johnson ran for a full term that year and was unopposed in the May 3 primary, after Linda S. Reidelbach, an unsuccessful independent candidate for Congress in the 15th District in 1992, withdrew from the race despite filing nominating petitions. Johnson received 15,271 votes in the primary. On November 8, he faced Democratic nominee Christina L. Cox, a trustee in Blendon Township. Cox was also unopposed in her primary. She filed a complaint with the Ohio Elections Commission because Johnson ran television advertisements calling for voters to "re-elect" him. "A key issue in this campaign is the fact that Bruce Johnson has never been elected to anything." Cox told The Columbus Dispatch. "He was appointed by the Downtown influence peddlers, but he's trying to make the people think they elected him." However Johnson won the endorsement of the Dispatch. Johnson won the general election, 53,290 (61.78%) to 38,974 (38.22%).

First term work Johnson in 1995 called for reform of tax incentives and financing for corporations, saying it was political and unfair. "Why do we want to subsidize one competitor over another?" he asked... "I believe the market should dictate where the jobs will be," he told The Columbus Dispatch. He sponsored legislation that would limit prisoners given a sentence of death to a single appeal and to speed up the appellate process by eliminating review by the district courts of appeal. (The latter was authorized by a constitutional amendment approved by voters in 1994.) The legislation passed the Senate and House easily and was signed by Governor George V. Voinovich.

Johnson in 1996 chaired a special committee examining tort reform. The resulting bill which passed the Senate, would in the words of The Columbus Dispatch, "cap noneconomic and punitive damages, impose additional time limits for filing lawsuits and protect defendants in multidefendant cases from being liable for unpaid portions of a judgment." The minority party was unhappy, the paper reported, "Democrats blasted Republicans, saying they were catering to business at the expense of the victims of their negligence." Senator Jeffrey D. Johnson, a Cleveland Democrat said "Somewhere along the way we have shifted away from concern for the victim to concern for business," but Bruce Johnson defended the legislation. "What we've done is tried to strike a balance. Lawsuit abuse threatens to close the doors of many small businesses in our state."

To make it easier for cities to take property owners to court for violations of zoning and building codes, Johnson in 1997 introduced legislation to let zoning officers issue tickets similar to traffic tickets from the police. "We need to protect neighborhoods against landlords and people who don't keep up their property," he told The Columbus Dispatch. The City of Columbus had requested help because it claimed the existing process of going to criminal court was too slow.

In the 1996 presidential primaries, Johnson supported former Tennessee governor Lamar Alexander.

In the Senate Johnson became chairman of the Judiciary Committee in July 1995 when the committee's chairman, Senator Barry Levey, a Republican of Middletown, retired. Johnson was the youngest-ever chairman of the Judiciary Committee. In the 122nd General Assembly (the 1997–1998 session), he chose to retain that post after dropping out of the race for majority whip, the fourth ranking post in the Republican leadership. He also was chairman of the Ways and Means Committee before entering the Senate leadership in 1999 and had been a member of the Legislative Ethics Committee.

Runs in Columbus Johnson in 1997 sought election to a four-year term as Columbus city attorney, who prosecutes misdemeanors within the city limits, defends the city in civil cases, and acts as the city's chief legal advisor with a budget of about $7 million with 140 employees. Johnson was endorsed by the Franklin County Republican Party and, as no other Republican filed, did not face a primary election. "Of all the jobs that are out there, that's the one I'm most qualified for right now," he told The Columbus Dispatch in January. He faced Janet E. Jackson, a former municipal court judge appointed by the city council that month to complete the term of Ron O'Brien, who had been elected Franklin County Prosecuting Attorney.

Johnson ran what The Dispatch characterized as an "aggressive" campaign on television and in debates. Among Johnson's concerns was that Jackson had been settling civil suits against the city too readily and for too much money and that she had been lax in prosecuting parents who failed to make child support payments. "I would be a deadbeat parent's worst nightmare," Johnson bragged. However, Jackson noted that no child support cases had been filed with her office and she could not be blamed for failing to hold parents accountable.

The Dispatch described one ad: "a man is shown attacking a woman in a kitchen as an announcer cites domestic violence statistics from Jackson's office" that she had dismissed or plea bargained 96 per cent of domestic violence cases. Jackson said of the commercial "It's base," she said. "It was meant to elicit a reaction," but Johnson countered "What she's afraid about is that people will find out that an outrageous number of domestic violence cases are dismissed or plea bargained. The outrage is the facts, not me bringing them up." The Dispatch called Johnson a "worthy opponent" to Jackson, but endorsed her, citing her experience and her "commitment to professionalism and nonpartisanship." Despite spending $265,900 on his campaign, Johnson lost the November 4 election, winning 41 per cent to Jackson's 59 per cent.

Jackson was disappointed with her opponent, telling The Dispatch after her victory "the senator and I talked early about running positive campaigns. Unfortunately, his campaign ended up being about half-truths and half-statements."

Continues Senate service In 1998, he sought re-election to his Senate seat. He was again unopposed in the Republican primary, held on May 5 in which he received 20,130 votes. The Columbus Dispatch endorsed him in the fall, editorializing: During the past four years, no senator was more active or as deeply involved in as many major issues as Johnson... A legislative whirlwind, he personally sponsored numerous bills and shepherded others into law... By any measure, this legislative record is substantive and valuable to central Ohio and the state... Johnson is respected and trusted on both sides of the aisle. His accomplishments are remarkable for someone just 38 years old. He fully deserves another term.

In the general election on November 3, he faced Democrat Debra A. Payne, a small businesswoman who owned a data-processing firm and was a three-term councilwoman in Gahanna. Payne told The Columbus Dispatch "I went door to door and asked, 'Do you know who your state senator is?' They said, 'I have no idea,' and I said, 'That's why you need me.' " Johnson defeated her by a vote of 53,074 (54.79%) to 43,796 (45.21%), a decreased margin of seven percent from 1994. After his reelection, the Senate Republican caucus elected him assistant president pro tempore, the third ranking post in the GOP leadership, defeating fellow a Franklin County senator, Eugene Watts of Dublin, who sought another term in that post.

In December 1998, Columbus Mayor Greg Latshukta announced he would not seek a third term in 1999. Johnson briefly considered a run for the seat, but decided against it. The same month, Johnson told The Columbus Dispatch he was investigating overturning the city council's vote to grant benefits to domestic partners of city employers, according them the same treatment as spouses. Johnson objected to the idea itself, the cost, and the manner in which the question was rushed through the council without any public notice or debate. "No matter what you think of the merits, the process on an issue they knew could raise serious questions from the public was circumvented," said Johnson.

Concerned with protecting children Johnson was strongly anti-abortion. In 2000, he sponsored legislation allowing mothers to leave a newborn baby at a hospital, police station, and like public facilities without fear of criminal charges. "I believe this bill is pro-life because it protects the life of a child regardless of the actions of its parents. I only wish we could protect babies earlier," he told The Plain Dealer.

In 2000, Johnson sponsored legislation that would require background checks for volunteers working in private groups, claiming "This turns the spotlight on the leeches of our society who are preying on our children." The proposal met stiff opposition, being labeled an "inquisition" by The Toledo Blade and was denounced by The Plain Dealer "as a tool for harassment, and would be a disincentive to thousands of civic-minded, morally upright Ohioans who volunteer to work with children." "This bill can impose a life sentence prohibiting service to the youth of our community resulting from discovery of a listed felony conviction at any time in a person's life," Christine Nardecchia, president of the Volunteer Administrators' Network of Central Ohio told The Toledo Blade. Johnson was also concerned with children's health, introducing legislation in 2000 to require all children twelve and under to be vaccinated against chicken pox. Johnson sponsored legislation to allow mothers to breast feed their children in public.

Utility deregulation spearheaded