DJ Johnson announced his candidacy for state representative of Kentucky’s 13th District before a crowd Thursday at the Daviess County Courthouse. House District 13 includes Daviess County and the City of Owensboro.
Johnson, who’s from Owensboro, ran for reelection in November 2018 but was narrowly defeated in a historic race that was decided by one vote. The state representative seat went to Democratic candidate Jim Glenn after a recount that made national news.
Johnson will likely face Glenn again in the 2020 election.
Johnson didn’t talk about the previous election Thursday, instead opting to encourage the crowd by speaking about his platform and vision for the future of Owensboro.
“Why am I running?” he asked. “It’s very simple. These are the best times in Owensboro. These are the times I was looking forward to in Owensboro as a teenager. The economy is booming here.”
In a press release issued by Johnson, he said the values he learned in Owensboro — faith, hard work, integrity and service — have guided his life through military and business careers.
“Too often, Owensboro’s representatives in Frankfort have turned a blind eye on these values,” he said. “As a state representative, I will fight for and live by those values.”
Johnson also promised to defend the 2nd Amendment if elected to office and told the crowd he would never vote on a bill that negatively affected their right to bear arms.
As for Owensboro’s future, Johnson said the city had come a long way, but work still needed to be done. Some of Johnson’s top focuses for the area include updated infrastructure, safety and security (law enforcement) and combating the issue of homeless children across the state.
“I will make that a focus, our children who don’t have a place to live,” he said. “The state government has made that difficult over the decades with paperwork and [red tape]. I will represent Kentucky the way it should be done in Frankfort, and we are going to make Owensboro a better place.”
