South Dakota's Sen.
Johnson Is Hospitalized
By SARAH LUECK and
JEANNE CUMMINGS, WSJ Online December 13, 2006
WASHINGTON -- Democratic Sen.
Tim Johnson of South Dakota was rushed to a hospital on Wednesday with an
undiagnosed illness that was initially feared to be a stroke.
Democrats have an effective one-vote
majority in the Senate after capturing six new seats in the November midterm
elections. If Mr. Johnson is unable to continue to serve, it could tip the
balance back to Republicans, since South Dakota Republican Gov. Mike Rounds
could appoint his replacement until 2008.
That would put the Senate into a 50-50 tie, and would allow Vice President
Cheney to break ties on behalf of Republicans, possibly giving them
chairmanships of the committees.
A spokesman says Mr. Johnson didn't suffer a stroke or heart attack.
Earlier, the senator's office said that "he is undergoing a comprehensive
evaluation by the stroke team" at George Washington University hospital.
The brief statement had said it was a "possible stroke." A person familiar
with Mr. Johnson's condition earlier had said it was a stroke, though the
severity was unclear.
Rep. Stephanie Herseth, another South Dakota Democrat, announced Mr. Johnson's
hospitalization to a group of people attending a meeting in the state on
Wednesday, the Argus Leader newspaper reported on its Web site. She said
she believed it was a "severe" stroke and, in what the paper described as "a
shaking voice," asked state residents for their prayers.
Mr. Johnson, who turns 60 years old later this month, became disoriented during
a telephone call with reporters, stuttering while answering a question,
according to the Associated Press. A spokeswoman said he walked back to
his Capitol office after the call, and was examined by a Capitol physician, who
told him to go to the hospital. "It was caught very early,'' the
spokeswoman said.
A former House member, Mr. Johnson hails from the party's conservative wing and
operated for years in the shadow of fellow Democrat and former Senate Majority
Leader Sen. Tom Daschle, who was defeated in 2004. He was one of a handful
of Democrats to back President Bush's tax cuts in 2001, and to vote to confirm
Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito in 2004. Mr. Johnson first won his
Senate seat in 1996, and was re-elected by just 524 votes in 2000.
Only once in Senate history has partisan control of that chamber flipped between
elections. That was in 2001, when James Jeffords, a Vermont Republican,
changed to an independent, and caucused with Democrats. That gave
Democrats a slim majority until they lost it in the 2002 election.
Mr. Johnson was treated for prostate cancer in 2004 but was later declared
cancer-free. Both he and his wife, a two-time breast cancer survivor, have
been vocal advocates for cancer screening.
Write to Sarah Lueck at
sarah.lueck@wsj.com and Jeanne Cummings at
jeanne.cummings@wsj.com.
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