As Jeff Johnson recalls, the last time he spoke with Gov. Tim Walz it was “through gritted teeth.”
On that November evening in 2018, Johnson called to congratulate Walz, his opponent for the governor’s seat in a race that was sometimes spicy, but largely amicable. A Republican stalwart in state and local politics, Johnson lost to Walz by 10 percentage points and subsequently left public life behind (presumably with an unclenched jaw).
“I like this conversation better,” Johnson deadpanned at the Capitol on Thursday.
A former member of the Minnesota House and Hennepin County board, Johnson on Thursday was flanked by a black Labrador Retriever named Mato (Lakota for Bear). Which was only fitting since he’s now the executive director of Can Do Canines, a New Hope-based organization that provides assistance dogs to people with disabilities.
There, in the ornate Governor’s Reception Room, Johnson watched his former rival sign a bipartisan bill into law that gives service dogs in training the same protections as active service dogs.
“I’m so pleased to be here today,” Johnson said to a phalanx of reporters. “I had assumed that I’d be talking to you all much more often in this room than the way it turned out.”
Replied Walz: “There are days I wish you were.”
Gov. Tim Walz signs a bill expanding support for service dogs in training while surrounded by service dogs, their owners and executive director of Can Do Canines Jeff Johnson, Rep. Cedrick Frazier and Sen. Bonnie Westlin at the State Capitol in St. Paul, Minn., on Thursday, May 8, 2025. ] RENEE JONES SCHNEIDER • renee.jones@startribune.com (Renée Jones Schneider/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
The new law ensures service dogs in training are exempt from homeowners association and apartment rules that don’t allow these animals.
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