# Jarvis Johnson

Jarvis Diallo Johnson (born September 27, 1971) is an American entrepreneur and politician who served in the Texas House of Representatives. A Democrat, he represented the 139th district from 2016 to 2025 and previously served on the Houston City Council.

## Early life and career

Johnson grew up in Houston's Fifth Ward.
In 1996, Johnson graduated from Texas Southern University with a degree in speech communications. In 1995, while in college, he became executive director of Phoenix Outreach Youth Center, ending his affiliation with them in 2005., the same year he was elected to the Houston City Council to represent District B.

## Political career
### Houston City Council (2005–2009)

In 2005, Johnson ran for Houston City Council District B, a seat held by term limited Carol Mims Galloway. In an eight candidate race, Johnson received nearly 4,000 votes, earning a spot in the December run off election. In December 2005, Johnson won the Houston City Council District B race by over 60% of the vote. He was reelected in the 2007 elections and 2009 elections.
Johnson served as chair of the City of Houston's Human Services and Technology Access Committee. He also served on the Houston City Council's Committee on Budget and Fiscal Affairs, and the Housing and Community Development Committee, among others.
In 2010, a police officer claimed Johnson failed to stop his vehicle when he tried to pull him over for speeding. He was arrested and charged with evading arrest, and later a grand jury cleared him of the charges, deciding there was not evidence that he did anything wrong.

### 2010 U.S. House of Representatives campaign

On January 5, 2010, Johnson announced his candidacy for Texas's 18th Congressional District seat, a seat held by incumbent Sheila Jackson Lee.
Jackson Lee was in her third term on the Houston City Council in 1994 when she beat incumbent U.S. Representative Craig Washington on the theme that he was out of touch with his district. When Johnson announced his candidacy in 2010, he had just won a third term to a council seat within the 18th Congressional District. The congressional district encompasses much of urban Houston and is about 40% black with the remainder split between whites and Hispanics. It accounts for about a quarter of the city's more than 2 million residents.

### Texas House of Representatives (2016–2025)

Johnson ran in the 2016 primary election, advanced to the runoff election, and won a special election called to determine an interim representative for 2016 and won the primary election runoff. Since he was unopposed in November 2016, Johnson winning the special election and runoff meant he was the District 139 state representative who would succeed Sylvester Turner. After 26 years, Turner stepped down from his state seat to become Houston's mayor.
Johnson won the May 7 special election, with 85% of the vote, to finish out the remainder of Turner's term as state representative of District 139. Turner swore him in, allowing Johnson to serve through December and immediately, fully assume former Turner's seniority status and his roles that include vice-chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.
When Johnson ran for the Texas Senate, Charlene Ward Johnson won the Democratic primary to replace him. She ran unopposed, to be the district's state representative in 2025.

#### Legislation

Johnson advocated for education funding reform for Texas' HBCUs, noting disparity between them and other higher education institutions.
Johnson was the sole member to speak against HB 2908, a law codifying protections for police and peace officers, strongly opposing the bill on the grounds that it could make questioning an officer an act of resistance and therefore a hate crime.
For three consecutive legislative sessions (in 2019, 2021, and 2023), Johnson filed bills to end Confederate Heroes Day as a state holiday. The bills did not make it out of the House State Affairs Committee, and Speaker Dade Phelan who chaired the committee did not bring up the bill for a vote.
Johnson also filed multiple bills to apply pollution limits for concrete plants, which affect the air quality for districts such as the ones he represented, but these bills did not pass.

### 2024 Texas Senate campaign

Johnson announced his campaign for the Texas Senate in the 15th district, the seat vacated by incumbent Democrat John Whitmire upon winning the 2023 Houston mayoral election. He placed first in the March 5 primary with 36% of the vote, advancing to a May runoff with Molly Cook. He was defeated in the runoff and in the Democraty primary to a full term by Cook.

## Electoral history
### 2005

Houston City Council District B Election 2005 :
| Candidate | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Willie J. Hunter | 1,049 | 7.21% |
| | Tommie Ruth Allen | 1,456 | 10.01% |
| | Anna Gray | 426 | 2.93% |
| | Charles A. Ingram | 1,004 | 6.90% |
| ✓ | Felicia Galloway-Hall | 5,462 | 37.54% |
| ✓ | Jarvis Johnson | 3,830 | 26.33% |
| | Angle S. Bush | 326 | 2.24% |
| | Robin German-Curtis | 995 | 6.84% |
Houston City Council District B Election 2005, Runoff :
| Candidate | Candidate | Votes | % | ± |
| | Felicia Galloway-Hall | 2,146 | 39.67% | |
| ✓ | Jarvis Johnson | 3,264 | 60.33% | |

### 2007

Houston City Council District B Election 2007 :
| Candidate | Candidate | Votes | % | ± |
| ✓ | Jarvis Johnson | 8,254 | 76.95% | |
| | Kenneth Perkins | 2,473 | 23.05% | |

### 2009

Houston City Council District B Election 2009 :
| Candidate | Candidate | Votes | % | ± |
| | Roger Bowden | 2,204 | 18.01% | |
| ✓ | Jarvis Johnson | 10,033 | 81.99% | |