Mike Johanns

Mike Johanns
Official portrait, 2009
United States Senator from Nebraska
In office January 3, 2009 – January 3, 2015
Preceded by	Chuck Hagel
Succeeded by	Ben Sasse
28th United States Secretary of Agriculture
In office January 21, 2005 – September 20, 2007
President	George W. Bush
Preceded by	Ann Veneman
Succeeded by	Ed Schafer
38th Governor of Nebraska
In office January 7, 1999 – January 20, 2005
Lieutenant	David Maurstad Dave Heineman
Preceded by	Ben Nelson
Succeeded by	Dave Heineman
47th Mayor of Lincoln
In office May 20, 1991 – November 30, 1998
Preceded by	Bill Harris
Succeeded by	Dale Young
Personal details
Born	Michael Owen Johanns (1950-06-18) June 18, 1950 (age 74) Osage, Iowa, U.S.
Political party	Republican (1988–present)
Other political affiliations	Democratic (before 1988)
Spouses	Connie Johanns ​ ​ (m. 1972; div. 1985)​ Stephanie Armitage ​ (m. 1986)​
Children	2
Education	Saint Mary's University of Minnesota (BA) Creighton University (JD)
Mike Johanns's voice Johanns questions Joseph Glauber, chief economist of the U.S. Department of Agriculture at a hearing on the state of the U.S. livestock industry Recorded June 28, 2011

Michael Owen Johanns (/ˈdʒoʊhæns/ JOH-hanss; born June 18, 1950) is an American attorney and politician who served as a United States senator from Nebraska from 2009 to 2015. He served as the 38th governor of Nebraska from 1999 until 2005, and was chair of the Midwestern Governors Association in 2002. In 2005, he was appointed by President George W. Bush to serve as the secretary of agriculture, where he served from 2005 to 2007, becoming the fourth Nebraskan to hold that position.

Born in Osage, Iowa, Johanns is the graduate of Saint Mary's University of Minnesota and Creighton University School of Law. He began his career as an attorney working in private practice before clerking for the Nebraska Supreme Court. Elected to the Lancaster County Board as a Democrat in 1983, Johanns served there until 1987, and was elected to the Lincoln City Council in 1988. He was elected the 47th mayor of Lincoln in 1991 and reelected in 1995.

In Nebraska's 1998 gubernatorial election, Johanns defeated Democratic political aide Bill Hoppner, and in 2002 he was reelected over insurance executive Stormy Dean. In 2008, Johanns ran for the Republican nomination to replace retiring U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel. He won the primary, defeating businessman Pat Flynn, and the general election, defeating Democratic challenger Scott Kleeb. He was sworn in on January 3, 2009; along with Jim Risch of Idaho, he became only one of two new Republican senators sworn into the 111th United States Congress. On February 18, 2013, Johanns announced that he would not run for reelection to a second term in 2014, and was succeeded by fellow Republican Ben Sasse.^[1]