Daniel Johnson contemplates challenge to McHenry
Story by Andrew Mackie, Hickory News Record

A Hickory military hero may enter the 2008 race for Congress.

Daniel Johnson, 31, confirmed Wednesday he is considering a run for the seat held by scandal-ridden Rep. Patrick McHenry.

Johnson is a Hickory native who now lives in Raleigh. He said he might move back to the area and launch his campaign.

“We’re trying to see if it’s the right thing for me and my wife right now,” Johnson said. “It is something that I’m considering and looking into.”

He expects to make a decision within a month or two.

Johnson has been an assistant district attorney in Wake County for the past three years.

Johnson received the Navy Marine Corps Medal, the highest honor awarded to an officer during peacetime, following a 1999 accident on the USS Blue Ridge during which Johnson saved a fellow crewmate.

In the process, a cable severed both of Johnson’s legs below the knees.

Along with his Naval recognition, Hickory proclaimed a day in Johnson’s honor. He also was the grand marshal for the Hickory Holiday Parade that year.

Johnson was given a medical retirement in January 2000.

A graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Johnson returned there to attend law school a year later.

Johnson said a run for Congress, like his Navy and legal careers, would be another avenue of service.

“So far, my entire professional career, I’ve been in one type of service or another,” Johnson said. “(A congressional run) would be another way to serve a lot of people in a wide range of issues. It’s very appealing and something worth considering.”

Johnson said McHenry’s policies or performance while in Congress is playing no part in his consideration for the position.

“It’s more a matter of people I’ve talked to and them being very supportive of the possibility of me running,” he said.

Johnson declined to state his position on any issue. But Forrest Ferrell, a retired judge and longtime Democratic leader in the Hickory area, said Johnson holds moderate and conservative views - “typical of the Tenth District.”

Johnson’s potential candidacy excites Ferrell, along with other local Democrats.

“He would make an outstanding candidate and even better congressman,” Ferrell said.

Sources say Johnson also is being courted to run by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

A spokesperson for the DCCC gave a statement Wednesday.

“The DCCC is committed to finding the best candidate to run in every race in the country. Daniel Johnson’s service to America shows the kind of leader he would be.”

The statement also called McHenry a “mouthpiece for Washington Republicans” who embarrasses his district with his antics.

A McHenry spokesman declined to comment on Johnson’s possible candidacy and the DCCC comments.

Despite his credentials, political observers say any Democratic candidate faces a difficult challenge in the Republican-dominated 10th District.

McHenry, a Cherryville native, won the seat in 2004 after narrowly defeating Catawba County Sheriff David Huffman in the Republican primary and Democrat Ann Fisher by a wide margin in the general election.

McHenry gained re-election in 2006 with a victory over Democrat Richard Carsner.

Johnson is the second notable person with Hickory ties to consider challenging McHenry.

In 2006, Hickory Mayor Rudy Wright publicly contemplated a challenge in the Republican primary before ultimately deciding against the move.