John Hodgson
From Ballotpedia
John Hodgson
Kentucky House of Representatives District 36
Tenure
2023 - Present
Term ends
2027
Years in position
2
Predecessor
Compensation
Elections and appointments
Education
Personal
Contact
John Hodgson (Republican Party) is a member of the Kentucky House of Representatives, representing District 36. He assumed office on January 1, 2023. His current term ends on January 1, 2027.
Hodgson (Republican Party) ran for re-election to the Kentucky House of Representatives to represent District 36. He won in the general election on November 5, 2024.
Biography
John Hodgson was born in Fort Worth, Texas. Hodgson earned a B.S. in industrial engineering from Texas Tech University in 1984 and an M.S. in aeronautical science from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in 2007. His career experience includes working as the president of Bigfoot Strategies, the operations director for Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin's (R) administration, and the division manager of aircraft maintenance planning and technical publications with UPS Airlines.[1][2]
Hodgson has served as the policy director of the Kentucky board for Americans for Election Integrity, the chair of the Fisherville Area Neighborhood Association, the president of the Louisville Tea Party, and the legislative district 36 chair of the Jefferson County Republican Party. He has been affiliated with the Louisville Arena Authority Board, the Kentucky Capital Planning Advisory Board, the Kentucky Program for Agricultural Conservation Easements Board, the Kentucky Environmental Education Council Board, and the Align America Board.[1][2]
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Committee assignments
2023-2024
Hodgson was assigned to the following committees:
- Elections, Const. Amendments & Intergovernmental Affairs Committee
- House State Government Committee
- House Transportation Committee
- State Government Committee
- Transportation Committee
Elections
2024
See also: Kentucky House of Representatives elections, 2024
General election
Democratic primary election
Republican primary election
The Republican primary election was canceled. Incumbent John Hodgson advanced from the Republican primary for Kentucky House of Representatives District 36.
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Hodgson in this election.
2022
See also: Kentucky House of Representatives elections, 2022
General election
Republican primary election
Endorsements
To view Hodgson's endorsements in the 2022 election, please click here.
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
John Hodgson did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.
2022
John Hodgson completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2021. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Hodgson's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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I grew up in Texas, where both parents were stationed in the military during WW2. I transferred to Kentucky in 1985 with the UPS expansion, and have lived in several areas of eastern Jefferson County ever since. My lovely bride of 30 years, Robin, is a retired teacher who volunteers as a fitness instructor at our church. Both our kids are grown, graduated from Kentucky colleges, married, and out of the nest.
I retired from a great 32 years at UPS Airlines, working in senior leadership positions in engineering, IT, logistics, strategic planning, and fleet operations. My focus was on problem solving, cost cutting, and operational efficiency. My educational background is: a BS in Industrial Engineering from Texas Tech, a Master's in Aeronautical Science from Embry-Riddle, and some post-graduate work in Public Policy at Liberty University, along with certifications as Certified Systems Integrator (CSI), and a KY Professional Engineer (PE).
After being in the private sector my whole life, I spent an eye-opening 4 years in Kentucky state government, working as a senior staff advisor (Operations Director) for Governor Bevin, focused on “Red Tape Cutting” to make state government more efficient and cost effective. I currently am involved in public service as a volunteer on a number of government, community and non-profit boards.
I love Kentucky, a land of natural beauty, and hope to spend the rest of my life here, enjoying the outdoors, farming, and gardening
- Protecting the God-given rights of the people from government encroachment at all levels, especially protection of life, the right of self-defense, free speech, and privacy
- Reducing waste, excess and corruption in taxpayer funded programs and government contract processes
- Promoting economic development by getting useless and outdated government regulation out of the way of businesses
- Ensuring election integrity in Kentucky
- Conservation and protection of Kentucky's natural resources via best management practices
- Enabling and supporting local small agriculture and gardens, "farm-to-table" programs, and "freedom to farm" regulatory reform
- Empowering the faith-based communities to assist our most vulnerable citizens and neighbors
I try to follow the examples set by Jesus Christ, my dutiful Marine Corps father, the Great Communicator Ronald Reagan, and a number of the American Founders whose work I have studied closely in the last few years. I am still amazed at the level of commitment it took for them to jeopardize their "lives, fortunes and sacred honor" for the cause of American liberty.
- doing what you promise
- being truthful
- values deeply rooted in the Constitution
- moral philosophy that aligns with natural law
- protect the Constitutional rights of all citizens
- represent the interests of the home district in allocation of tax resources
- prevent government over-reach and encroachment via excess regulation
I would like to leave a legacy of empowering Kentuckians to engage fully in self-governance, taking their rightful role in running their own affairs and state affairs without unnecessary interference from government.
I shook hands with candidate Richard Nixon when I was 7. Watergate and impeachment 7 years later were a crushing disappointment to me as a young man. I have no use for dishonest politicians.
I worked mowing grass, landscaping and construction all through Jr High, High School and College, 14 years total. This introduced me early to business relationships, banking, contracts, dealing with customers, management of people and tasks, and deadlines.
The Bible. It is the "users manual" for life.
A governor has the "bully pulpit," and can set the tone for a legislative agenda as a visible leader of the people. However, it is strictly up to the legislature to pass the laws. I a firmly opposed to governance by executive order that usurps the constitutional role of the legislature.
The $60,000,0000,000 + unfunded pension liability will sink the state if we cannot grow economically, and increase the tax base to cover the state's legal obligations. Non essential tax expenditures must be reduced or eliminated.
The Founders sought checks and balances in Federal government and most state governments to prevent any one part from becoming too powerful. The House is more the immediate voice of the people, being elected every 2 years, and the Senate is a smaller, more deliberative body elected every 4 years (in Kentucky). The two provide a good balance. Unicameral legislatures may be effective in less populous states, that have only population equivalent to that of a large city (which typically has a unicameral council of some type).
It is important in either case for voters to have a direct line of sight and communication with their elected representatives - close enough to see them in the community on a regular basis, and discuss the issues of importance.
A little experience is usually helpful, just to avoid painful mistakes from incorrect or naive assumptions in the first year of service. Too much experience is a detriment, as people become set in their ways, and bound by habit and invisible restraints from their experiences.
Definitely. It takes 51 votes to get anything done in the Kentucky House, nobody knows everything, and you have to have trusting relationships with folks to reach agreement and get a good bill passed.
A process carried out after the decennial census by the most recently elected Legislature, with some fairly restrictive rules to prevent excessive gerrymandering. There is no perfect solution, all solutions will advantage some and disadvantage others. Districts should be geographically compact, and make sense in their boundaries, like keeping counties whole, and dividing districts along natural barriers like rivers and major interstates, etc.
Powers should be granted only on a very temporary basis, with swift oversight to contain an executive who abuses the privilege.
It takes 51% to get anything passed. Nobody gets everything they want, especially when it comes to allocation tax funds. That being said, I would never compromise moral or constitutional principles just to get a bill passed. I would vote
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Kentucky scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
2024
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2024, click [show]. |
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In 2024, the Kentucky State Legislature was in session from January 2 to April 15.
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2023
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2023, click [show]. |
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In 2023, the Kentucky State Legislature was in session from January 3 to March 30.
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See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on June 7, 2021
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 LinkedIn, "John Hodgson," accessed March 25, 2023
Leadership
Speaker of the House:David Osborne
Representatives
Republican Party (80)
Democratic Party (20)
