Former Washington County Commissioner and self-described moderate Wayne Johnson filed to run for Minnesota House in 41A as a Republican – despite briefly campaigning as an independent. Johnson had told delegates in email that he would not run in a primary after failing to secure the Republican endorsement.

Senate District 41 has become notorious in Republican circles. Here, former state representative Tony Jurgens ran in a primary against Republican Endorsed candidate for State Senate, Tom Dippel. When Jurgens lost the primary, he endorsed the Democrat candidate who went to win the district by 321 votes – less than 1% of the vote.

Wayne Johnson just sent his pledge over. All three candidates have now committed to our endorsement process! pic.twitter.com/ynQgdMKswX

— Minnesota Senate District 41 GOP (@SD41GOP) February 26, 2024

Wayne Johnson campaigned for Jurgens during the primary. It is unclear how he voted in the general election. According to Senate District 41 delegates, Johnson refused to apologize for supporting Jurgens.

That is likely a small factor in delegates rejecting his candidacy at the Senate District convention. After his defeat on the first ballot, Johnson stormed out of the building. A week later, he sent an email to delegates announcing that he will not run in a primary (see below).

On April 13th, Johnson updated his Facebook page and campaign website to state that he is an independent candidate for Minnesota House. Many believe this as a move to “spoil” his opponent’s chances of winning the general election – splitting the vote so that the Democrat candidate can win.

His independent campaign was short-lived, garnering nothing but condemnation from previous endorsees. Johnson decided to flip-flop (at least) one more time and re-launch a Republican campaign to run in the primary.

He notably removed references to “extremes... to the right” from his Facebook biography when doing so. Check out his campaign's Facebook page.

Johnson is no conservative, either. While he brags about his experience as County Commissioner, he mostly spent his time cozying up to far-left Democrats and spending your tax dollars. His campaign pages have featured pictures with Former Senator Karla Bigham, Congresswoman Betty McCollum, and Governor Tim Walz.

Not only did Johnson break his pledge to abide by the Republican endorsement, but he also failed to stay in the Republican Party. His primary opponent, Grayson McNew, was endorsed by the Senate District 41 GOP and previously served as a legislative aide for the New House Republican Caucus. 

The winner of the August 13th primary will face far-left Democrat Lucia Wroblewski, a professional Democrat activist, in the November election. You can find information about Johnson's campaign here.