Kenneth L. Johnson

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Kenneth L. Johnson
Image of Kenneth L. Johnson
Prior offices
Cleveland City Council Ward 4

Elections and appointments
Last election

September 14, 2021

Education

High school

John Adams High School

Associate

Cuyahoga Community College

Bachelor's

Cleveland State University

Kenneth L. Johnson was a member of the Cleveland City Council in Ohio, representing Ward 4. He assumed office in 1980. He left office in 2021.

Johnson ran for election to the Cleveland City Council to represent Ward 4 in Ohio. He lost in the primary on September 14, 2021.

Johnson retired from city council in late December 2012. However, the Cleveland City Council appointed him to serve out the remainder of his term in early January 2013 in a 13-3 vote. Johnson's reappointment created controversy because it allowed him to draw funds from his public pension, while simultaneously receiving a $74,000 per year salary for his interim city council position.[1]

Biography[edit]

Johnson attended John Adams High School, Cuyahoga Community College, and Cleveland State University. He has seven sons.[2]

Elections[edit]

2021[edit]

See also: City elections in Cleveland, Ohio (2021)

General election
General election for Cleveland City Council Ward 4

Deborah Gray defeated Erick Walker, Dontez Taylor, and Antoine Tolbert in the general election for Cleveland City Council Ward 4 on November 2, 2021.

Candidate
%
Votes

Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/DeborahGray.jpg

Deborah Gray (Nonpartisan) Candidate Connection
 
62.1
 
1,989

Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/Erick_Walker.jpg

Erick Walker (Nonpartisan) Candidate Connection
 
36.3
 
1,164

Silhouette Placeholder Image.png

Dontez Taylor (Nonpartisan) (Write-in)
 
 
0

Silhouette Placeholder Image.png

Antoine Tolbert (Nonpartisan) (Write-in)
 
 
0
  Other/Write-in votes
 
1.6
 
52

Total votes: 3,205
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for Cleveland City Council Ward 4

The following candidates ran in the primary for Cleveland City Council Ward 4 on September 14, 2021.

Candidate
%
Votes

Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/DeborahGray.jpg

Deborah Gray (Nonpartisan) Candidate Connection
 
26.7
 
670

Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/Erick_Walker.jpg

Erick Walker (Nonpartisan) Candidate Connection
 
19.1
 
478

Silhouette Placeholder Image.png

Craig Willis (Nonpartisan)
 
12.8
 
320

Silhouette Placeholder Image.png

Ashley Evans (Nonpartisan)
 
9.7
 
243

Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/KennethJohnson12.jpg

Kenneth L. Johnson (Nonpartisan)
 
7.6
 
190

Silhouette Placeholder Image.png

Mario Snowden (Nonpartisan)
 
5.9
 
149

Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/Cecil_Ekechukwu.jpeg

Cecil Ekechukwu (Nonpartisan) Candidate Connection
 
5.6
 
141

Silhouette Placeholder Image.png

Mike Shomo (Nonpartisan)
 
3.8
 
95

Silhouette Placeholder Image.png

Arnold Shurn (Nonpartisan)
 
3.7
 
92

Silhouette Placeholder Image.png

Vanessa Crumb (Nonpartisan)
 
2.9
 
72

Silhouette Placeholder Image.png

Rowland Mitchell (Nonpartisan)
 
2.4
 
59

Total votes: 2,509
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates


2017[edit]

See also: Municipal elections in Cleveland, Ohio (2017)

The city of Cleveland, Ohio, held elections on November 7, 2017. A primary election occurred on September 12, 2017. The mayor and all 17 seats on the city council were up for election. The filing deadline for candidates who wished to run in this election was June 29, 2017.[3]

Incumbent Kenneth L. Johnson defeated Gail Sparks in the general election for Ward 4 of the Cleveland City Council.[4]

Cleveland City Council, Ward 4 General Election, 2017
Candidate Vote % Votes
Green check mark transparent.png Kenneth L. Johnson Incumbent 56.65% 2,262
Gail Sparks 43.30% 1,729
Write-in votes 0.05% 2
Total Votes 3,993
Source: Cuyahoga County Board of Elections, "General Election Official Results," November 22, 2017


The following candidates ran in the primary election for Ward 4 of the Cleveland City Council.[5]

Cleveland City Council, Ward 4 Nonpartisan Primary Election, 2017
Candidate Vote % Votes
Green check mark transparent.png Kenneth L. Johnson Incumbent 48.14% 1,179
Green check mark transparent.png Gail Sparks 22.62% 554
Rowland Mitchell 13.11% 321
Arnold Shurn 6.08% 149
LaShorn Caldwell 4.45% 109
Julie Donaldson 2.29% 56
Cecil Ekechukwu 2.04% 50
Ngozi Adigwe 0.98% 24
Write-in votes 0.29% 7
Total Votes 2,449
Source: Cuyahoga County Board of Elections, "Official Election Results," September 12, 2017

Campaign themes[edit]

2021[edit]

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Kenneth L. Johnson did not complete Ballotpedia's 2021 Candidate Connection survey.

Noteworthy events[edit]

Convicted of federal corruption charges and sentenced to 6 years in prison (2021)[edit]

’’See also: Noteworthy criminal misconduct in American politics (2021-2022)’’

On October 8, 2021, Johnson was sentenced to 6 years in prison and ordered to pay more than $700,000 in restitution after being found guilty on six counts of federal program theft, two counts of conspiracy to commit federal program theft, five counts of aiding the preparation of false tax returns, one count of tampering with a witness, and one count of falsification of records in a federal investigation.[6]

Johnson was indicted on February 18, 2021 and found guilty on July 30, 2021.[7] Prosecutors on the case said Johnson netted $150,000 from claiming city council reimbursements related to falsified timesheets, depositing some of his sons' checks into his own bank account, and inflating the value of his tax deductions and under-reporting. Prosecutors claimed Johnson owes more than $90,000 in back taxes.[8]

As of December 10, 2021, Johnson had not issued a statement in response to the charges.

See also[edit]


External links[edit]

Footnotes[edit]

Political offices
Preceded by
'
Cleveland City Council, Ward 4
1980 - 2021
Succeeded by
Marion Anita Gardner (interim)



Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 | Original source: https://ballotpedia.org/Kenneth_L._Johnson
Status: cached on October 07 2022 20:11:20
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