Politics shouldn’t be a career.  Our elected officials should be citizen servants.  As Governor Herbert said when he first ran for re-election as governor, “I think our Founding Fathers always believed people would serve for limited periods of time and then go back and live with the laws they’ve passed.”  [Apparently, 26 years in elected political offices and two terms as governor isn’t a limited period of time.]

As governor, during my first 100 days in office I will work with the legislature to put in place a two-term limit on the governor to mirror the Twenty Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.  I will then ask the citizens of Utah to amend Utah’s Constitution so future politicians can’t undo the law (like they did in 2003).

About Jonathan

Jonathan Johnson is a leader, a problem solver, a decision maker, a business builder, a BYU law graduate, chairman of the board of Overstock.com, and most importantly, husband of Courtney Johnson and a father of five sons.

In 2002, Jonathan joined Overstock.com to head its legal department. Within three months he was the fifth member of the company’s executive team. Since then, he’s held various roles, including president for five years and acting CEO. In 2014, he became the chairman of the board. His leadership has significantly contributed to Overstock.com’s remarkable growth from a start-up to an international business with over $1.5 billion in annual sales.

Overstock.com successfully runs on very slim gross margins (only ~18%) selling quality products and effectively keeping costs low by following the motto “We Save Paperclips.”

Education:

• Graduated from BYU with degree in Japanese
• Japanese Ministry of Education scholar
• Graduated from BYU law school
• Adjunct professor at BYU law school (2013)

Work:

• Clerked for Utah Supreme Court
• Practiced corporate law at two international law firms
• General Counsel and CFO for publicly-traded software company
• Executive at Overstock.com (employs 1800 Utahns):
• Started as General Counsel in 2002
  • President (2008-2013).
  • Acting CEO (2013)
  • Current Chairman of the Board (since 2014)

Community – serves on the governing boards of:

• Utah Technology Council
• University of Utah Hospital Foundation
• Hale Centre Theatre
• Utah Foundation
• Salt Lake Chamber Clean Air Task Force (founding chairman)

Why Jonathan

Leadership: If we want better government, we need to elect, essentially hire, better leaders – leaders who will make difficult decisions, empower people, and deliver great results. Jonathan’s business success demonstrates this type of leadership and the qualities he will bring to the Governor’s office.

Business Mentality: Jonathan’s leadership helped propel a Utah start-up into an international business with $1.5 billion in annual sales. Jonathan understands the tools and skills Utah institutions need to take their efforts to the next level … and he knows that government shouldn’t do tasks best left to business.

Federalism: Jonathan will turn back the significant encroachment by the federal government in areas such as education and control of public lands.

Fiscal Responsibility: Jonathan knows that Utah’s tax dollars come at great sacrifice to the people of Utah. He will run the state’s budget similar to a business budget, examining every aspect for cost-effectiveness. With Jonathan at the helm, Utahns will know their precious tax dollars are spent wisely by a businessman who knows how to stretch a dollar.

Educating our children is vital to Utah’s future. It’s time for transformational improvements to Utah’s K-12 education system, including increasing teacher salaries and reducing bureaucracy to help our quality teachers succeed and encourage new teachers to enter the profession. Two principles should guide our education policy: localization and personalization.