Rep. Johnson must deliver on key issues

Published 12:00 am Thursday, August 26, 2004

In Tuesday’s special election runoff, Robert Johnson III won the District 94 House of Representatives seat over Alderman James &uot;Rickey&uot; Gray.

Johnson, an attorney who ran for re-election to the District 38 Senate seat last year, was defeated by Kelvin Butler for that position.

But previously, Johnson had 10 years of experience in the state Senate, serving in several leadership positions on such committees as Criminal Justice, Education and Judiciary.

Email newsletter signup

Johnson said he gained the experience and seniority necessary to quickly make his way into positions of power on House committees.

We believe Johnson has the experience necessary to serve Adams County &045;&045; and parts of Jefferson and Claiborne counties &045;&045; well.

We encourage voters in District 94, no matter who they voted for, to give Johnson their support.

We also encourage Johnson to continue to listen to residents of his new district and to make their voice heard in Jackson on the issues most important to them.

Those issues include jobs. Johnson should do his utmost, as he has pledged to do, to keep abreast of industrial prospects who may want to locate in District 94.

He should also lobby for incentives to entice such industries to the area and for funding for education and infrastructure.

Another key issue is health care. A solution must be found for the state’s Medicaid crisis to help insure that the people who need health care assistance the most continue to get it.

In addition, Johnson has said he will support fully funding the Children’s Health Insurance Program. This is essential to help insure children of the working poor get the coverage they need.

We ask local residents to keep in touch with their new representative to help keep him current on new concerns as they arise.