Former Senate Banking Chair Tim Johnson dies at 77 due to complications from a stroke

Former Senate Banking Chairman Tim Johnson, who represented the state of South Dakota in the Senate as a Democrat for over three decades, died on Tuesday at the age of 77 from complications from a stroke, his family said Wednesday.

Johnson, regarded as a moderate Democrat, was first elected to the Senate in 1996 and served a total of three terms in the Senate and five terms in the House. He retired from public office in 2015, and was the head of the Senate Banking Committee.

“As a fourth generation South Dakotan, fighting for the state he loved was the greatest privilege of his life, but he considered his family his greatest blessing,” his family said in a statement reported by Politico. “Watching his three children and eight grandchildren grow and thrive with Barbara, his wife of 55 years, at his side brought him immense pride and joy.”

The recent stroke was not the first health emergency for the former senator. Johnson previously survived a life-threatening brain hemorrhage in 2006, but returned to the Senate in 2007 to accolades from his colleagues.

“Tim always quipped that neither the left, nor the right, had a monopoly on all of the good ideas, but that working together, we can find common ground for the good of our country,” his family said. “In his work and life, Tim showed us never to give up.”

Republican South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem has ordered flags to be flown at half-staff to honor Johnson, according to the Associated Press.

Misty Severi is an evening news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.