{"biography":"## Current office and 2026 campaign\n\nThomas Lee Johnson (Republican) ran for U.S. Senate in North Carolina in the 2026 primary, where he lost to the Trump-endorsed candidate.\n\n## Background and education\n\nJohnson entered foster care at birth and was adopted at age five. He graduated as class valedictorian from Richard Montgomery High School. He earned a bachelor's degree in Political Science from the U.S. Air Force Academy (Dean's List and Commandant's List) and a master's degree in Space Commercialization from the U.S. Air Force Institute of Technology.\n\n## Career\n\nFollowing graduation, the CIA recruited Johnson to study space commercialization and build intelligence satellites at the National Reconnaissance Office. He narrowly escaped harm at the Pentagon on September 11, 2001. He subsequently held senior leadership roles at Lockheed Martin, Capital One, and Accenture, and founded and serves as CEO of Agile Immersive. He has also lectured on artificial intelligence and cultural transformation at Goethe Graduate Business School.\n\n## Family\n\nMarried to Amanda Bradley Johnson; the couple has four children \u2014 Ezra, Elijah, Ephraim, and Eden-Lee.\n\n## Sources\n\n- [1] [About \u2013 Thomas Johnson US Senate 2026](https://www.tlj2026.com/about/)\n- [2] [In NC's US Senate GOP Primary \u2013 WUNC](https://www.wunc.org/elections/2026-02-24/in-north-carolinas-u-s-senate-gop-primary-contenders-try-to-topple-trump-endorsed-candidate)","campaigns":[{"contest":"us_senate","county":null,"county_count":0,"electiondate":"Tue, 03 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT","pgr":"general","state":"NC","title":"Us Senate"}],"cf_filings":[],"firstname":"Thomas","fullname":"Thomas Lee Johnson","lastname":"Johnson","middlename":"Lee","office_history":[{"campaigns":[{"contest":"us_senate","contest_title":"Us Senate","county":null,"county_count":0,"electiondate":"2026-03-03","office_county":null,"office_key":"us_senate","office_title":"U.S. Senator","party":"REP","pgr":"general","state":"NC"}],"county":null,"cycles":[{"general":{"contest":"us_senate","contest_title":"Us Senate","county":null,"county_count":0,"electiondate":"2026-03-03","office_county":null,"office_key":"us_senate","office_title":"U.S. Senator","party":"REP","pgr":"general","state":"NC"},"party":"REP","primary":null,"term":null,"year":2026}],"office_key":"us_senate","office_title":"U.S. Senator","state":"NC","terms":[]}],"terms":[],"token":"69a60be731b9bb81"}