Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., is the fourth congressman Republicans have nominated to replace the ousted Kevin McCarthy as House speaker – but the first to actually win the gavel – and is arguably the least known of the four to most Americans.

Johnson on Wednesday did what Reps. Steve Scalise, Jim Jordan and Tom Emmer could not — take his nomination to the House floor and secure majority support from the full chamber.

The House has been without a speaker for more than three weeks after Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., successfully led an effort to remove McCarthy, R-Calif. Eight Republicans and 208 Democrats voted out McCarthy.

So who is Mike Johnson? 

Johnson, 51, has served in Congress since 2017, representing Louisiana’s Fourth District, which mostly covers the northwestern part of the state, including his hometown of Shreveport. 

He is serving his second term as the vice chair of the House Republican Conference. Johnson also serves as the GOP deputy whip and is a member of the House Judiciary and Armed Service committees. He previously chaired the House Republican Study Committee.

Johnson is a close ally of former President Donald Trump. Following the 2020 presidential election, Johnson voted against certifying Joe Biden’s victory over Trump and emailed House Republicans urging them to sign an amicus brief in support of a Texas lawsuit seeking to overturn the election results in swing states. 

Asked during a news conference Tuesday night if he helped lead the efforts to subvert the election results, Johnson refused to answer, saying, “Next question.” Meanwhile, the House Republicans surrounding him laughed and jeered, and Rep. Virginia Foxx of North Carolina told the reporter to “Shut up.”

Johnson also was one of eight House Republicans whom the White House named to Trump's defense team in his impeachment trial in 2020.

Trump, who played a hand in sinking Emmer’s candidacy Tuesday, wrote in a post on his Truth Social site Wednesday that he would not make an endorsement in the race, but added, “My strong SUGGESTION is to go with the leading candidate, Mike Johnson, & GET IT DONE, FAST!”

In its scorecard rating members of Congress on how conservative they are, Heritage Action for America gives Johnson an 84% in the current session and 90% for his career. The group penalized Johnson for supporting the deal in May to suspend the debt ceiling. 

This session, Johnson co-sponsored a bill that would make it a crime for anyone who receives federal funds to allow people who were assigned male at birth to compete in female sports. The bill passed the House along a party-line vote but has not been taken up by the Democratic-led Senate.

In a letter last week announcing his speaker candidacy, Johnson wrote that while he has “a clear vision and plan for how to lead us through these unprecedented challenges,” he had not pursued the gavel “out of admiration and respect for our rules, the process, and the good men involved.” But he said many House Republicans had reached out to encourage him to run.

Johnson laid out seven priorities if he is elected speaker: restoring trust by ensuring transparency; advancing a policy agenda supported by the consensus of House Republicans; promoting individual members by emphasizing each one’s strengths; engaging members in working groups to formulate policy solutions; working to inform the Republican base and American people of the conference’s policy agenda; building coalitions with conservative think tanks and policy groups; and working to expand the Republican base. 

Johnson graduated from Louisiana State University and LSU law school and then spent 20 years practicing constitutional law.

He began his political career in the Louisiana House of Representatives, where he served from 2015-17.

Johnson and his wife, Kelly, have been married since 1999 and have four children.