Who is Mike Johnson married to? All about his wife and family as adopted black son praises Republican

Louisiana Representative Mike Johnson was chosen by the Republican Party to fill the vacancy left by the outgoing House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in October 2023. Since then, a lot of information about Johnson, including that about his family and adopted son has come to light.

Business Insider reported that Mike Johnson and his wife Kelly had adopted an African-American boy named Michael Johnson in 1999. The publication noted that since leaving the custody of the Johnsons, Michael had a number of run-ins with the law for offenses ranging from drug possession to theft. However, he subsequently turned his life around and is currently living in California.

He told the Daily Mail in a statement that he was glad that Mike and Kelly adopted him when he was a teenager.

"If the Johnsons hadn't taken me in as a teenager, my life would look very different today. I would probably be in prison or I might not have made it at all," Michael told the outlet.

It is worth noting that Johnson acknowledged his wife Kelly in his award speech. During his speech, he also made light of the fact that his wife had "spent the last couple of weeks on her knees in prayer to the Lord."

“I want to thank my dedicated wife of almost 25 years, Kelly. She’s not here, we couldn’t get a flight in time. This happened sort of suddenly," he said.

Mike Johnson has been married to his wife Kelly since 1999 and the couple share four biological kids together.

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Mike Johnson and Kelly Johnson share five kids together

Mike Johnson has been married for the last 20 years (Image via Facebook / Mike Johnson)

Since Mike Johnson was elected into the House in 2016, a lot of information about him and his family has come out.

The Republican Party member and a far-right congressman from Louisiana married his wife Kelly in 1999. They have four children together and an adopted son. Their children are named Will, Hannah, Abigail, and Jack, along with Michael Johnson, their adopted son. Mike and Kelly were 27 and 26 when they officially adopted 14-year-old Michael.

The government official has previously discussed his and Kelly's "covenant marriage," which is a more stringent union that is only permitted in three states.

During a 2005 interview with ABC, Mike Johnson revealed that he was partly motivated to pursue a covenant marriage by his personal experience with his parents' divorce.

"My wife and I both come from traditional Christian households. My own parents are divorced. As anyone who goes through that knows, that was a traumatic thing for our whole family," he said at the time.

He added that he was a "big proponent of marriage and fidelity" and everything that went with it. He noted that he had "firsthand" witnessed the devastation that divorces can cause.

Kelly concurred and said Johnson "wants it to be forever" based on his desire to enter a covenant marriage. As per The Washington Stand, she said:

"I think that it would be a pretty big red flag if you asked your mate or your fiancé, 'Let's do a covenant marriage,' and they said they don't really want to do that."

Kelly graduated from Louisiana Tech University with a degree in elementary education and obtained her teaching certification. Later, she worked as an elementary and secondary school teacher in both public and private institutions around the state.

It is worth noting that very little is truly known about their children. Mike has mostly discussed Michael, in public when he has discussed race. He called Michael a "success story" and compared adopting a Black adolescent with the 2009 film The Blind Side. The film shows an affluent white family adopting a poor Black adolescent who goes on to become a football star.

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As per AP News, lawmakers conclude the $14.5 billion Israel aid deal, which is expected to be passed later this week. Following this, Speaker Mike Johnson assured Republican senators on November 1, 2023, that the House will swiftly consider a new aid package for Ukraine that is connected to border security in the US.

The Senate Republicans told Politico that Johnson informed a group of Republican senators that he favors a proposal to temporarily keep the government funded through January 15, 2023, and help Ukraine. These are the two contentious issues among congressional Republicans.