Embattled Johnston County school board member Johnson advances to November race
Johnston County school board member Ronald Johnson, who was indicted last year on charges of extortion and felony obstruction of justice, will advance to the November general election.
He is one of the top two voter-getters alongside Jeff Sullivan in District 7 Tuesday night, according to unofficial results.
As of 10 p.m., Johnson had received 6,703 votes, with 11 out of 36 precincts reporting results. Sullivan trailed with 5,787 votes.
Johnson’s seat was one of two county school board seats on Tuesday’s primary ballot and four that will be on the general election ballot in November. School board races are officially nonpartisan, but Johnson is a Republican.
April Lee and David Spain finished in the top two in District 4 to advance to the fall election.
Only two candidates each had filed in Districts 3 and 6, so there was no need for a primary. Candidates will run in November for four-year terms.
State lawmakers switched the school board from at-large to residency-based districts. Candidates still have to run countywide but must live in one of the districts that’s on the ballot.
A censured and indicted leader
Johnson was first elected to the school board in 2016 and was reelected in 2020.
Johnson was censured by the school board twice in 2022, drawing ire for secretly recording conversations during closed-session meetings and also for sending texts during board meetings commenting on the appearance of female school employees.
He also was accused of trying to have two special-education students removed from a school because of his personal issues with a parent.
Soon after the second censure vote in October 2022, Johnson was fired from his job as a detective in the Smithfield Police Department due to what town officials called his “detrimental personal conduct.” He had been an officer for 17 years.
Last April, Johnson was indicted on charges of extortion, felony obstruction of justice and three counts of willfully failing to discharge his duties. The allegations included that he threatened to reveal a defamatory recording of a congressional candidate unless the candidate pressured a woman to recant statements that she had an affair with Johnson.
In June, Johnson filed a federal lawsuit that named multiple parties as defendants, including the Johnston County school board, the Town of Smithfield. He charged in the lawsuit that there’s been “irreparable harm to his reputation and livelihood.”
Johnson is one of two Johnston County elected officials who remains in office while facing criminal charges.
In 2022, County Commissioner Richard “Dickie” Braswell was arrested and charged with incident liberties with a 13-year-old child. Braswell ran unopposed that year and was reelected.
The criminal cases against both Braswell and Johnson remain ongoing.
