Speaker Bios
Michael Johnson
State Senate Candidate District 22
Mike Grew up on farm in the Midwest. Joined the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War. Graduated from the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California. Served in the Army Security Agency. Top Secret Clearance. After being Honorably discharged from the Army, he joined the U.S. Army Reserves and served in a Military Intelligence Voice Intercept SCIP.
He Graduated from Southern Illinois University and earned a Master’s Degree with honors from Webster University, St. Louis, Missouri.
Mike worked for 2 major international corporations and then was tapped to work with the Defense Department. His career spanned 33 years working in different positions within the DoD’s Fourth Estate Agencies making him eligible to serve in Senior Executive Service positions. He was drafted to work on President Reagan’s efforts to cut Government waste with David Stockman. His different positions and Agencies he worked for lead him to lead teams of professionals who assessed, awarded, oversee, successfully deliver and sometimes shut down various programs of businesses located all over the United States and the world.
Mike attended the Defense Acquisition University and became an Advanced Program Manager and a member of the esteemed Acquisition Corps as a Senior DOD Leader.
He was responsible for overseeing multi-billion-dollar programs and testified in hearings that resulted in wasteful programs being shut down. He also was instrumental in writing regulations to cut out waste in the Federal Government.
Mr. Johnson earned certifications from the Harvard law School, Program on Negotiations where international students from governments around the world and United States attended to work on treaties, International and National programs.
Mike earned Meritorious achievement awards, Agency Employee of the year, and numerous other awards for service and performance before honorably retiring.
Mike now is enjoying his grandchildren and children and is a strong activist in making government work for the people and is a grassroots organizer to get more people involved in getting the right laws and individuals in office.
Mr. Johnson has been to Tallahassee many times to get bills introduced and revised and pushed through to become law over the past three years.
Mike is a widower, has 2 children and his son is currently serving overseas for the Special Operations Command, and has two beautiful grandchildren. And is a resident of Sarasota.
The future is ours to keep safe for them.
State Senator Jim Boyd District 20
Jim Boyd was elected to the Florida Senate in 2020 and is currently running to represent the newly redrawn Senate District 20. His district encompasses Manatee County and a portion of Hillsborough County. Prior to being elected to the Florida Senate, Senator Boyd served 8 years in the Florida House of Representatives. Senator Boyd owns and operates Boyd Insurance and Investment Services with his son, Austin.
As a Bradenton small business owner and life-long resident of Manatee County, his commitment to this area is well established. Boyd has a long history of public service. He was first elected to the Palmetto City Council in 1989 and went on to serve as the city’s mayor and vice mayor. He also served as fire commissioner for the North River Fire District and as a volunteer firefighter/EMT.
Boyd also hails from a political family, his uncle, Wilbur Boyd, served in the Florida House and Senate in the 1960s and 1970s, and his grandfather, Hugh E. Boyd, served in the Florida House in the 1940s. Boyd currently serves on the Manatee Memorial Board of Governors, Enterprise Florida Board of Directors, as well as the Seminole Boosters Board.
He earned a bachelor’s degree from Florida State University in 1978. Jim and his wife of 37 years, Sandy, live in Bradenton. Their adult children, Ansley and Austin, both reside in Manatee County with their families.
