Editor’s Note: This story is part of a series featuring candidates for the 2026 U.S. Senate and House of Representatives elections in Mississippi. Cliff Johnson will participate in the general election in November.
Cliff Johnson, the Democratic nominee for Mississippi’s 1st Congressional District election in November, attracted national attention to the North Mississippi race when Joseph Kennedy III, the former Massachusetts congressman and grandson of 64th U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, hosted a fundraiser for Johnson at Big Bad Breakfast in Oxford on Friday, April 17 .
“(Johnson) has deep roots in Mississippi and is a very talented guy,” Kennedy said. “Candidates that are willing to step forward and try to channel the energy from global grassroots organizations are in a good race.”
Johnson, a clinical professor of law instruction at the University of Mississippi School of Law, said he is running on a platform for all Mississippians.
“I am committed, first and foremost, to representing those among us who are suffering the most,” Johnson said during an interview with the Mississippi Media Lab on April 17. “That doesn’t mean you don’t represent everyone in the district, of course. The district as a whole does better— our communities are safer and happier — when we address those issues that cause people to suffer and be left behind.”
Johnson won the Democratic primary for the congressional seat on March 13, defeating Kelvin Buck. In the Nov. 3 general election, Johnson will face incumbent Republican Trent Kelly, who received approximately 70% of votes cast in 2024.
Johnson hopes to win over Republicans in the largely conservative 1st District who are frustrated with the Trump administration.
“I think that there are plenty of conservative Mississippians who recognize that whatever this is, (MAGA) this doesn’t represent Mississippi values, and it doesn’t represent what they thought they were getting into when they declared themselves Republicans,” Johnson said. “I love Mississippi, and I feel like we’ve gotten into this binary situation. They believe the choice between Democrats and Republicans is one of morality, but I want to push back on that a little. I hope people will take a closer look.”
Rep. Kelly did not respond to a request for an interview with the Mississippi Media Lab.
In addition to teaching at the UM law school, Johnson serves as director of the MacArthur Justice Center, which provides litigation support for civil rights and criminal justice issues.
Before becoming a professor, Johnson was an assistant U.S. attorney during the Clinton administration. Johnson believes that this experience has provided him with the backbone necessary to be an effective congressman.
“I’m not hesitant to be in an adversarial posture,” Johnson said. “Whether it was big health care companies when I was prosecuting health care fraud cases, or CEOs of national health care conglomerates, or government contractors in the space industry bringing in whistleblower cases, or standing up to the United States government when I was defending people charged with crimes or taking on the state of Mississippi or sheriffs or judges.”
Johnson decided to run for office after his two children and his students voiced their frustrations regarding their perceived lack of representation in Congress. Johnson lives in Lafayette County with his wife, Leigh Johnson. As a member of Idlewild Presbyterian Church, he described himself as a “church guy.”
Overall, Johnson aligns himself strongly with the Democratic Party’s stances on political issues.
Economics
Johnson supports raising the minimum wage in Mississippi from $7.25 an hour to $15 an hour.
“We have to immediately increase the minimum wage,” Johnson said. “It hasn’t increased in 16 years. During the same period of time, grocery prices have gone up 60%, but we still have people making low wages that aren’t really livable wages.”
For years, Republicans have pushed back against an increase in minimum wage, arguing that this would result in more expensive goods. Johnson acknowledged this but still argued that the current minimum wage is too low.
“Of course it does,” Johnson said. “Paying people an amount that supports the basic necessities is a much greater benefit than what we could see with prices being raised. Our economy will be stronger, not weaker, and families will be happier.”
Johnson believes that the current economic instability in the country is linked to what he perceives as Trump’s assertion of the executive branch above other branches and evading checks and balances in government.
“I think the best example of where Donald Trump, Trent Kelly and the Republican Party have gotten it wrong is that we have moved from a structure where you have a clear separation of powers, a system of checks and balances, limited power in the executive branch, to a world where a single person declares war, imposes tariffs, threatens the judiciary and in doing that creates tremendous economic uncertainty that drives up prices and makes things worse,” Johnson said.
War with Iran
In April, Johnson shared a video to his TikTok account in which he discussed the rising gas prices at a fuel station. In the video, Johnson criticized Kelly for his complicity in the United States’ war with Iran.
“Donald Trump owns this,” Johnson said. “He was supposed to be the candidate for peace, but this type of instability causes economic disruption and certainly higher gas prices. What this administration and those who enable this administration, like Trent Kelly, have done is create so much uncertainty in economic markets from day to day that supply chains have disrupted.”
Johnson said that he is against the war with Iran and believes that the midterm election could be a fight to return to “normalcy.”
“I think the gas prices are a manifestation of a much larger problem, and that is a power grab by a president like we’ve never seen before,” Johnson said.
Immigration
“I think we can’t have an open Southern border,” Johnson said. “I think the majority of people agree that we need to have control of our border, so, to the extent that there are Republicans who take the position that we should control our border, I agree.”
However, Johnson does not believe that the U.S. border with Mexico should be closed. He believes that border control has two layers: securing the border and assisting undocumented Americans in gaining legal status.
“People come in search of asylum — people facing incredibly dangerous situations back home,” Johnson said. “We have to make careful and thoughtful decisions on who we allow in.”
Johnson supports undocumented Americans already living in the U.S., and he is against an aggressive presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials in communities.
“We have to quit chasing these folks,” Johnson said. “I believe that people who have been in this country undocumented for some period of time who have not committed a violent crime should have a path to permanent status. Now, if there are people who are undocumented and they’ve committed violent crimes, then they’ve got to go.”
Johnson does not support ICE acting violently toward community members or acting unlawfully.
“The version of ICE where people come in with masks and snatch people off the streets, ignoring Constitutional protections, that ICE has to go,” Johnson said. “I’ll vote to get rid of that ICE.”
However, Johnson is not fully against immigration enforcement. If elected, Johnson said, he would support agents with more training than they currently receive who implement immigration laws and enforce them.
“Anti-immigration rhetoric — vilifying these people — is the oldest political play in the book,” Johnson said. “As you tell people who they should hate, you tell people who they should fear, and then you act as the savior who protects them from this group of people. The anti- immigration rhetoric I hear in this country right now breaks my heart.”
Abortion
Johnson supports women’s healthcare rights relating to abortion.
“I believe that women should have access to the healthcare they need, and that includes reproductive health,” Johnson said. “I’ve got a mother, I’ve got a wife and I’ve got a daughter. I want them to have access to whatever healthcare they need in consultation with their physician.”
Building a relationship with constituents and the press
“The biggest criticism I’ve heard of Congressman Kelly is that (constituents) never see him,” Johnson said. “There are no town halls. There’s no coming to local communities. They just never see him.”
If elected, Johnson said he will maintain committed relationships with constituents and the press. He plans to travel across the district during his time away from Washington, D.C., when Congress is not in session.
“I will be across the district, not just making a speech from a podium and then stepping out without a chance for people to talk to me,” Johnson said. “I think you have to submit yourself to the cheers or people screaming at you and cussing you out. That’s the job.”
Part of Johnson’s platform is holding others accountable, and he plans to hold himself accountable by answering questions from the media.
“You have to subject yourself to hard questions from the media,” Johnson said. “Part of that process is that you keep telling the truth about what you’re doing — doing it not in the darkness but in the light.”
Transparency and accountability are attributes Johnson advocated for while working as a civil rights attorney in Mississippi, and he believes that this experience has prepared him to be an answerable congressman.
