REGIONAL— An Iron Range political legend died Monday at the Cook Hospital after a brief illness. Doug “Dougie” Johnson had been ailing for the past two years, according to his wife Denesse, but when he contracted an illness about a month ago, he just couldn’t shake it. “He kept getting weaker and weaker,” said Denesse.
Johnson, who was born Aug. 17, 1942, was 80 years-old.
While he came to hold considerable power in Minnesota, Johnson came from humble beginnings in Cook. His rise began in the 1960s, when he was elected mayor of his hometown when he was just 23 years-old. He later ran successfully for the Legislature, serving in the Minnesota House of Representatives from 1971-1976. Voters advanced him to the state Senate four years later and it was there he developed his reputation as a shrewd political strategist with a populist flair.
Johnson was named chair of the powerful Senate Tax Committee in 1980, a coveted position from which he was able to bring substantial tax benefits to Iron Range residents and communities. Among his major accomplishments was passage of a new Taconite Production Tax formulae, which has directed an average of approximately $100 million to communities, schools, and counties in northeastern Minnesota, as well as the Doug Johnson Economic Protection Trust Fund, named for Johnson. He also modernized the state’s Payment in Lieu of Taxes, or PILT, program, which aided northeastern Minnesota with its large percentage of state lands. He reconfigured the state’s Local Government Aid formula in a way that brought millions in annual state funding to many Iron Range cities.
While Johnson frequently drew criticism from metro area legislators, both DFL and Republican, for using his position to benefit northeastern Minnesota, it was criticism that he wore as a badge of honor. And it earned him the overwhelming support of his constituents, who returned him year after year with huge margins.
Johnson had contracted polio as a child and always walked slowly, with the aid of leg braces, but it was a disability that he always managed to overcome through his tenacity and his remarkable personal charm. “Everyone talked about his cherub smile,” said Sen. Tom Bakk this week in remembrance of his longtime friend and mentor. “Just looking at him, you had to like him. People trusted him and they trusted him to make important decisions.”
His charm, combined with his strong support in northern Minnesota helped him compete against the heirs of four Minnesota dynasties when he ran for governor in 1998. In a five-way primary, he finished a strong third, ahead of both Mark Dayton and Ted Mondale. “It was the best thing we ever did,” recalled Denesse, “but we both agreed we’d never do it again.”
It was after his unsuccessful gubernatorial bid that Johnson began to think about life beyond the Legislature. That intensified after he was term-limited as head of the Tax Committee, and became head of the Senate Finance Committee, instead.
That opened up opportunity for Bakk, who went on to eventually replace his mentor.
“For me, I was probably the luckiest freshman who was ever elected,” said Bakk. “I had arguably two of the most powerful legislators as mentors, with Doug in the Senate and Irv Anderson in the House. They really taught me how to navigate the process.”
When Johnson retired, Bakk was well-positioned to replace him, and soon was tapped to lead the same Tax Committee from where Johnson was able to accomplish so much for the region.

Politics led to romance
Politics was Johnson’s life, so it was perhaps no surprise that he met Denesse, his wife of 26 years, through their mutual political involvement.
“He was my state senator when I lived south of Biwabik, and got involved politically,” said Denesse. When her first husband later died, she took a job at the Capitol, working as a committee administrator for the Legislature. “We went out for dinner one night, and that was it,” recalled Denesse.
Doug retired from the Legislature in 2003, but he and Denesse began a political consultancy which they operated for more than a decade from their home on Lake Vermilion. Their consultancy was aided by Johnson’s reputation for political smarts and his many personal connections with influential people across the state.
While the couple retired from professional consultancy about ten years ago, Doug continued to offer political advice to candidates he backed. “He was very engaged right up until three weeks ago. He never quit with politics,” said Denesse, who acknowledges she’s “just as crazy about politics” as he was. “He’d been helping Grant Hauschild.”

A blue-collar Democrat
At a time when Iron Range politics has been trending increasingly toward the GOP, Johnson remained a stalwart DFLer, even as he often differed from his party on some issues. As a Minnesota Public Radio profile of Johnson mentioned during his 1998 gubernatorial bid, one political commentator had called Johnson the only “pro-gun, pro-life, pro-hockey-puck” candidate in the DFL nomination fight. Johnson, who in his heyday could launch into a stemwinder of a stump speech at a moment’s notice, often railed against Twin Cities liberals and environmentalists in defending the region’s mining and logging industries.
He was very much a traditional DFLer, who backed industries that brought good, middle-class jobs to the region, while supporting plentiful funding for social services, particularly for the poor and elderly, public education, and infrastructure.
It’s no coincidence that the St. Louis County Board voted unanimously in 2010 to rename County Rd. 77, which passed Johnson’s Pike Bay residence, the “Senator Doug Johnson Highway.”
Johnson’s support for education was longstanding and was reflected as well in his choice of his non-legislative career as a guidance counselor at the Cook School, where he influenced the future goals of so many young people. He also used his influence to help bring new investments to college campuses and other public schools in northeastern Minnesota.
Despite his public renown, Denesse said Doug had requested a private ceremony for family, which will be held graveside at the Cook Cemetery. He’ll be interred there, right next to his mother and father.

Editor's Note... an earlier version of this story mispelled the first name of Johnson's wife Denesse. The Timberjay apologizes for the error.