Obama fave Michael Johnston tapped to fill Peter Groff’s seat

On the surface, Michael Johnston might have seemed an unlikely choice to fill the seat of Peter Groff, the departing president of the state Senate. After all, Groff is an African-American, as are Rosemary Marshall, Anthony Graves and Renee Blanchard, the three candidates aside from the Caucasian Johnston for the...
By Michael RobertsMay 12, 2009
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On the surface, Michael Johnston might have seemed an unlikely choice to fill the seat of Peter Groff, the departing president of the state Senate. After all, Groff is an African-American, as are Rosemary Marshall, Anthony Graves and Renee Blanchard, the three candidates aside from the Caucasian Johnston for the position. And yet Johnston’s profile has risen into the rarefield political air thanks to the endorsement of Barack Obama, who praised Johnston’s innovative work as principal of Mapleton Expeditionary School of the Arts, or MESA. Last year, Jessica Centers authored a comprehensive profile of Johnston, headlined “Barack Obama Gives Principal Michael Johnston Extra Credit.” It’s an excellent way to get to know your latest state Senator.

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Michael Roberts began his career with Westword in 1990 as music editor. In 1999, he took on a new role, full-time media reporter, as author of a column called The Message. In 2008, he became the lead writer for Westword‘s news blog, The Latest Word, a position he held until January 2023. Michael continues to freelance for Westword, covering everything from business to sports and the media; he also contributes to Jazziz, a national music magazine. He holds a bachelor’s degree from what is now Colorado Mesa University and master’s degrees from the University of California, Los Angeles, and Northwestern University.

michaelrobertscolo@gmail.com

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