LaTonya Johnson (born June 22, 1972) is an American activist and politician from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She serves in the Wisconsin State Senate, representing the seat formerly held by Nikiya Harris Dodd, having easily defeated her opponents in the Fall 2016 primary election, and being unopposed in the general election.
Background
Johnson was born June 22, 1972 in La Grange, Tennessee. She earned a B.S. degree in criminal justice from Tennessee State University, and has lived in Milwaukee for twenty-eight years. She owned and operated Anointed Child Care Service, an in-home daycare service, and served as president of Local 502 of AFSCME, the union which represents in-home daycare providers in Milwaukee County. She has one daughter, Sydney.
Nomination and election
Assembly
When Barbara Toles resigned from her Assembly District 17 seat, Johnson was one of four candidates who vied for the Democratic nomination in this recently redistricted inner city district. She achieved an easy plurality, with 43% of the vote, in a field which included a former Milwaukee Area Technical College Board member with UAW ties, and an aide to State Representative Elizabeth Coggs.
In the general election, she drew 20,262 votes, to 3564 for her sole opponent, banker Anthony Edwards.
Senate
In November 2016, Johnson was elected to the Wisconsin State Senate. She had easily defeated two opponents (local government lobbyist Thomas Harris and Milwaukee School Board member Michael Bonds) in the August Democratic primary, and was unopposed in the general election. In 2020, she defeated primary challenger Michelle Bryant, the chief of staff for State Senator Lena Taylor. In the general election, she defeated Alciro Deacon in a landslide.
Controversy
During a discussion in the state senate on the state budget, Johnson criticized Republican policies that she believed contribute to crime in Milwaukee, including inaction on gun control. She provided an anecdote about a little girl's funeral she attended who was killed by a stray bullet, and that she has lost count of how many children's funerals she has attended because of gun violence. Johnson accused Republicans of only taking action now because the crime was affecting their suburban communities.
She ended her comments by saying "fuck the suburbs, because they don't know a goddamn thing about life in the city." This comment received national attention, and Steve Schuster said Johnson should step down from her position. Others came to her defense, including Wisconsin journalist Dan Shafer, who wrote "I grew up in the suburbs and live in the city and it’s incredible how misconstrued and flat-out wrong suburban perceptions of Milwaukee can be." Johnson later apologized for her comments, saying "Although I stand by the context of my speech, I could have used a different choice of words on the Senate floor. I apologize for using those specific words."