SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — Senator John Thune, Senator Mike Rounds and Representative Dusty Johnson are all Republicans. Johnson was the last Democrat to represent the state in Washington DC. But his fellow lawmakers still have a lot of respect for him.
In 2002 Thune came close to unseating Johnson from the senate. The two waged a hard-fought campaign, but would later be able to work together.
“We got along really well and our staffs got along really well. Tim was somebody who worked really hard he wasn’t afraid to do the work and we didn’t agree on every issue obviously but certainly when it came to South Dakota we tried as much as we could to put those differences aside,” said Thune.
Senator Mike Rounds says Johnson did not always take credit for the work he put into projects. For instance, he was crucial in securing funding for the Sanford Underground Lab in Lead.
“We had good talks about what I saw in a possibility in the underground laboratory,” said Rounds. “He agreed, so he found a way to find 10 million dollars at a time in which that was kind of tough to do. Got it in and that was one of the reasons we were able to do the laboratory.”
Rounds says Johnson had a reputation as someone willing to put in the hard work.
“I thought of Tim as a friend and I think sometimes when we look at folks who are in politics people think that we are all adversaries and we’re not. You recognize folks for the quality that they bring and how they treat other people,” said Rounds.
Congressman Dusty Johnson says they shared a last name, and more than once someone referred to Tim as Dusty’s father. He says he would correct them but he was never offended.
“In many respects, Tim Johnson he was a figure from a different era,” said Dusty. “He came up in a time when Democrats and Republicans were far more likely to work together than they are now. He was somebody who had deeply held beliefs, they were quite different than mine but he was a guy who ultimately wanted to get things done even if it meant working with the other side.”
All three voiced their condolences for the Johnson family.
