Harry J. Johnson

Candidate Biography:

Harry Justin Johnson
Born: June 21, 1886 in Iowa 
Married: Lucille L. Vogt
Died: August 1, 1957 in Porterville, CA

• CROSSFILING ODDITY: Johnson was defeated in the 1948 Primary in one of the rarest (and strangest) quirks of California election law at that time. It was the age of cross-filing, which allowed candidates to compete in the primaries for multiple political parties within the same district (for example, winning both the Republican AND Democratic primaries). In 1948, Assemblyman Johnson, a Democrat, defeated Republican Raymond Arthur Padden in the Republican primary by 5,666 to 5,578. At the same time, Padden defeated Johnson for the Democratic primary by 8,169 to 6,931. Since neither won their own primary, both were ineligible to win the other's primary (and neither was allowed to appear on the ballot). Harlan Hagan was selected by the Democratic Central Committee to appear on the ballot, and he won the General Election that November. This had happened two years before to Assemblyman Thomas Werdel.