State Rep. Jake Johnson talks growth, accountability, and listening to locals ahead of Rutherford GOP meeting
Western North Carolina’s youngest legislative power player is calling for smarter spending, agency oversight, and better disaster recovery—with an eye on Lake Lure
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RALEIGH, N.C. — Rep. Jake Johnson’s political origin story isn’t a tale of family dynasty or big-city ambition. It’s rooted in Polk County—on a farm in Saluda—and in a controversial zoning debate during his time as county commissioner that earned him a nickname he wears with pride.
“I remember we raised the building ordinance 10 feet and people said, ‘Jake Johnson is bringing Manhattan to Polk County,’” Johnson said, laughing during a recent appearance on the Under the Dome podcast. “We went from 50 to 60 feet. That’s five stories max—and I was apparently bringing New York City to the foothills.”
Now 30 and serving his third term in the North Carolina House, Johnson represents Lake Lure and the rest of Rutherford County—a region with high stakes in this year’s budget and disaster recovery funding decisions.
And he’s not slowing down. Johnson is scheduled to speak Saturday, July 12 at 2 p.m. at the Rutherford County Republican Party’s Green Hill precinct meeting, where he hopes to connect directly with voters, update them on Raleigh, and hear their concerns about infrastructure, economic development, and state oversight.
“I love being the guy people call—whether it’s barking dogs or broadband,” he said on the podcast. “If I don’t have the answer, I know who to call.”
From Saluda to Raleigh: A Conservative with Local Roots and Legislative Reach
Raised on a family farm in the mountains, Johnson said his early political interest wasn’t nurtured in a political household. “My family had nothing to do with politics,” he said. “They voted every election, but we didn’t talk about it unless something crazy was going on.”
He first ran for county commissioner at age 19 and lost—“a character-building experience,” he calls it. He won two years later, quickly becoming known for hands-on work and a pragmatic approach to growth and regulation. That’s when the Manhattan comparison hit.
“It was over the equestrian center in Tryon,” Johnson said. “People thought it was the end of the world. Now everybody loves it. It’s a huge economic driver.” The Tryon International Equestrian Center also served as a medical clinic and distribution hub for supplies in the immediate days following Hurricane Helene. Displaced merchants set up shop there, with some returning to Chimney Rock Village this month.
Since then, Johnson’s influence in Raleigh has grown alongside the needs of his expanding western North Carolina district. As Chairman of the Appropriations - Capital and Information Technology Committee, he plays a central role in deciding how state funds are allocated for infrastructure and modernization projects. He’s also Vice Chairman of both the full Appropriations Committee and the House Select Committee on Helene Recovery, which directs disaster aid for flood-damaged regions like Rutherford County.
Beyond the budget, Johnson is Chairman of the House Oversight Committee—where he says hearings are “more like a congressional setting than a state policy committee”—and holds leadership roles on several others, including Vice Chair of Commerce and Economic Development and a seat on the K-12 Education Committee. He also serves on the House Wildlife Resources Committee and numerous joint oversight groups, such as the Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations, the Transportation Oversight Committee, and as Vice Chair of the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Information Technology.
Whether it’s emergency recovery, economic growth, or agency accountability, Johnson is one of the most active and connected lawmakers shaping North Carolina’s 2025–2026 legislative agenda. This year, Johnson said, that oversight focus has been critical. “We’re not giving money for things that don’t meet agency goals,” he said. “If a program’s not performing, it’s not getting funded.”
Eyes on the Mountains: Targeted Recovery for Lake Lure and Beyond
After devastating weather-related losses and a fragile tourism economy in parts of WNC, Johnson says Helene disaster relief funding must be targeted and fast-moving.
“We can’t tie up disaster money in politics,” he said. “The Senate wanted to roll Helene into the general budget. I said no—we need it separate. That way it’s not held up by other policy debates.”
A Helene funding package was signed into law, and Johnson says he’s already seeing cooperation with Democratic Governor Josh Stein, a marked departure from the veto-heavy relationship with former Gov. Roy Cooper.
“I’ve talked to Stein more in two weeks than I did to Cooper in eight years,” Johnson said. “Stein’s saying, ‘Let’s work it out before it hits my desk.’ Cooper said, ‘Send it to me, I’ll veto it.’”
One of Johnson’s top priorities for the district: making sure recovery dollars help those who are rebuilding. He criticized past COVID-era grant models that gave money to small businesses with little chance of survival.
“Throwing $100,000 at a business that’s not coming back doesn’t help anyone,” he said. “We’ve got to vet better. And we’ve got to invest in the people and places that are actually going to rebuild.”
That includes Lake Lure and surrounding areas in Rutherford and Polk counties, where aging infrastructure and high tourism traffic make capital planning a balancing act.
Accountability and Modernization: “We Can Do This Smarter”
In his capital appropriations role, Johnson said he's scrutinizing all active projects to find stalled efforts or projects with unused funds.
“If you got money five years ago and you’ve only spent 10% of it, and you’re asking us for more, that’s a no,” he said. “We’re reallocating where it makes sense.”
He also laid out a vision for using automation and AI to eliminate outdated government jobs and reinvest the savings into employee pay.
“Thirty years ago, we needed someone at the DMV to check every form by hand. Now? That should be automated,” Johnson said. “Let’s give raises to the people doing real work—like inspectors and first responders—and streamline the rest.”
He described a proposal in the House to let agencies keep part of their lapsed salary funds for internal raises, instead of returning all of it to the general fund.
“Don’t come ask us for more money,” Johnson said. “Use what you’re not spending. Be efficient—and reward the employees who are showing up.”
No Signs of Slowing Down
Despite his long hours and growing portfolio, Johnson says he tries to stay grounded, especially when he’s back in the district.
“That’s where I want to be,” he said. “This isn’t about Raleigh. This is about western North Carolina.”
He chuckled when asked about how he relaxes during long days at the legislature.
“If I’m really stressed out, I’ll get Chick-fil-A and go park somewhere off the grid,” he said. “Then I’ll watch Casino Royale for the hundredth time, reset, and come back ready to work.”
Johnson’s sense of humor and easy rapport belie a serious mission: to make state government more efficient, responsive, and respectful of local priorities. And as the July 12 Rutherford GOP precinct meeting approaches, he says he’s ready to listen.
📍 Johnson represents parts of Rutherford, Polk, Henderson, and McDowell counties, including Lake Lure and Chimney Rock.
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Annie Dance is the publisher of Cops & Congress, a newsletter that tells the truth about what happens when disaster, democracy, and small-town policies collide.
But Mr. Johnson, for all his wonderful front facing self, refuses to meet with constituents at his House of Flags office in Columbus (or even let constituents know that he could meet them there), holds no Town Hall meetings, online or otherwise, won't tell constituents what he is working on so they can support him with real information, and does whatever the old, injected, contaminated, GOP wants... When he has been told repeatedly that 41% of US registered voters are now Independent, which means the corrupt GOP and Democrat uni-party cannot form a majority on anything (represent.us).
Mr. Johnson (and Senator Timothy Moffitt) failed to respond to repeated requests to find out what was going on with the body retrieval after weather-modified hurricane Helene's mass murder of 10,000+ Western North Carolina citizens. Seven refrigerator trucks sat behind the largest hangar at Asheville Airport for weeks, filling with 300+ bodies each, and being air lifted by Chinook to an undisclosed location in Charlotte. To this day, nobody knows if DNA samples were taken, or any attempt to identify the bodies was made.
The only response the citizens of this country are getting is an outright lie by the State of NC Executive, that only 107 people died. Why? What is this country's corrupt and downright evil government hiding? Is is the tragic fact that the US federal government was responsible for 10,000+ deaths in the Smoky Mountains in ONE MORNING... (and a nuclear incident on the Nolichuky River in Tennessee at Nuclear Fuel Services spent fuel recycling plant... just sayin.') - just to de-stabliize the region's property ownership for mineral extraction that has already started with mining on the Blue Ridge Parkway near Canton??
The NEXRAD (Next Generation Radar system, NOAA/Natl Weather Service) system was used to steer weather modified hurricane Helen straight into Asheville. Thanks to the process described in Bill Gate's 2009 Water Structure Patent US 2009/0173386 A1, it dumped 40 Trillion gallons on the rain soaked mountainsides - 32" in two hours - where it crushed and drowned an estimated 1,500 (mostly homeless) people between Ashville and Old Fort... alone.
On the link below, watch the NEXRAD towers activate (blue burst spread across the landscape at regular intervals. These towers blast electromagnetic radiation (EMR) at 750,000 kilovolts for up to 150 miles, causing harms above 3,000 feet in the mountains as their signal spreads. The NEXRAD at GSP on the East side of Helene's path, is not activated because the storm is being steered to the East by the towers on the West side:
**September 28, 2024 GeoengineeringWatch.com – NEXRAD System Activation - Hurricane Helene And Frequency Transmissions, 90 Second Alert
All are needed in the critical battle to wake populations to what is coming, we must make every day count. Share credible data from a credible source, make your voice heard. DW
https://www.geoengineeringwatch.org/hurricane-helene-and-frequency-transmissions-90-second-alert/
And then, because thousands of relief workers, first responders, surviving residents, etc., actually saw the human carnage caused by this storm and have informed their political leadership.... 32+ states have filed bills to stop or regulate Geoengineering aerosol spraying - with North Carolina Genl Assy creating two, error-filled, carbon copy bills now stalled in committee:
1) HB 362 - Rep Jonathan Almond - Which seeks to ban geoengineering aerosol spraying/injection in the stratosphere when the vast majority of the geoengineering aerosol activity is in the Troposphere; and is too short to accomplish anything.
2) SB 485 - Sen Timothy Moffitt - Says the same thing.
Fortunately, HB 362 got stuck in the nearly useless NCGA House Rules, Calendar, and Operations committee, and SB 485 got stuck in the Senate Committee on Rules and Operations of the Senate., so we can keep working on getting them fixed...