LOGAN — Newcomer Jason Thompson, the current mayor of River Heights, won the right to replace long-time Representative Dan Johnson in House District 3 on Tuesday night. It was the only really competitive race of the night.
The Republican garnered 5,824 votes compared to 4,944 for unaffiliated challenger Patrick Belmont.
On KVNU’s For the People program last week before the election, Johnson talked about his endorsement of Thompson.
“Patrick’s a good guy and I play golf with him and I enjoy him. I believe that Jason’s the right pick, I think he’s well positioned to do a great job in House District 3,” he explained.
Johnson talked about his tenure in the legislature which is winding down.
“But I will tell you that, I mentioned the other day in a post I made about – December’s rolling around, in December will be the last month of my official service, that’s when it ends,” Johnson added. “And I’ve listened to quite a few people say ‘yeah, I will miss the people but I won’t miss the rest of it’. But what I wrote was that – not me, honestly, I will miss all of it.”
He said people have often asked him why he talks to all these different people, from a different party or ones who are trying to sway his thinking about something. Johnson said the reason is because they know stuff he doesn’t know.