Marian Johnson

Executive Director, Florida Chamber Political Institute

Marian Johnson is Senior Vice President of Political Strategy for the Florida Chamber of Commerce, Florida’s largest business federation, representing 139,000 companies, associations, state and local chambers. She also serves as the Executive Director of the Florida Chamber Political Institute, a unique research organization that provides vital detailed demographic and political analysis to its members.

Johnson, perhaps Florida’s most seasoned political advisor, has been involved in an impressive number of presidential, state and local campaigns. Her budding career  started in 1964 when as a high school senior, she became fascinated with the “Barry Goldwater for President” campaign. Since then, she has gained experience in every facet of political operations, from campaigning to research and polling to administration.

Johnson has been involved with every presidential campaign from 1964 through 1984. Most notably, she served on Ronald Reagan’s 1980 and 1984 presidential campaigns. In 1984, she coordinated massive voter contact efforts in eight southern states for President Reagan’s re-election campaign. In addition to her work on national campaigns, Johnson has been involved in all aspects of many state senate and house campaigns, including candidate recruitment and campaign management. In fact, former Senator Vince Bruner credits Johnson with his “upset” victory over former Senator Dempsey Barron.

From 1985 to 1992, Johnson served as Executive Director of the Florida Lawyers Action Group. The November 1994 edition of Florida Trend credits Johnson with the success of the organization’s political mechanism and also traces its decline to her departure. While employed with this group, Johnson managed and directed a triumphant multi-million dollar statewide amendment campaign in 1988.

In December of 1993, Johnson created and managed Florida Business United, a research organization and the political arm of Associated Industries of Florida. She also served as Senior Vice President of Associated Industries of Florida Service Corporation, where she developed and implemented a one-of-a-kind tracking mechanism consisting of a six-week polling program for statewide offices. Results were featured statewide and nationally on political broadcasts of CNN and C-Span.

After a short “retirement” during the summer of 2003 to spend time with her grandkids, Johnson was recruited to join the Florida Chamber of Commerce. She currently serves as the executive director of the Florida Chamber Political Institute, a unique research organization that provides vital detailed demographic and political analysis to its members. She also serves as Senior Vice President of Political Strategy for the Florida Chamber of Commerce.

Johnson is listed in Who’s Who in American Politics, Prominent People in Florida Government, and Outstanding Young Women of America. She was appointed by U. S. Senator Mel Martinez to serve on the Military Selection Board.

 

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