After running against state Sen. Art Haywood in 2022, Republican candidate Todd Johnson is again challenging the longtime state senator in the Nov. 3 general election.

The 63-year-old candidate, who was unopposed in last month’s GOP primary, is running on a platform of community involvement, safety, and oversight of SEPTA and the Philadelphia school system, instead of “throwing” money at the issue, he says.

“I’m running to make a difference in the district, and people should vote for me because if they’re not satisfied with the status quo and how things have been going on in Philadelphia for the last 50-60 years, then vote for me,” Johnson told the Local.

Johnson said he is looking to appeal not only to Republicans in the district, but Independents and Democrats who are “tired of voting the same way year after year.”

Endorsed by the Philadelphia Republican City Committee and the 9th Ward Republicans, representing Chestnut Hill and Mt. Airy, Johnson’s platform highlights his positions on school choice, fracking, and public safety.

Johnson grew up in Germantown and still lives in the neighborhood. He serves as a leader of the 17th Ward Republicans, representing Ogontz, West Oak Lane, and parts of Germantown.

He has served as a pastor for the last 15 years at First Immanuel Baptist Church in North Philadelphia.

“I’m a ward leader, I’m a block captain, and I’m very active in my party and very active in my community. So, from that standpoint, I have a wealth of experience in terms of dealing with people,” Johnson said. “As a block captain, I take a lot of pride in being there to help the people on my block and some of the surrounding blocks that don’t have block captains. I will help make sure they get to the polls if they need voter registration information, if there’s a nuisance house on the block that they want some help with.

“These people primarily are people who don’t look at me as my party, but they’re looking at me as somebody who can help them, because I help people regardless of what party they may belong to.”

Policy

With the current school closure plan becoming a point of contention in recent months, Johnson thinks the issue stems from a lack of oversight rather than funding. He believes in this same approach for SEPTA.

“A lot of times, people think if we just give more money, that’s going to solve the problem. No, I believe that we need to look at the structure of how SEPTA is set up, and we also need to look at the money that’s being put into SEPTA. … As a state senator, having that oversight and being able to take a microscope to how the funding is being used and how it’s being allocated, I think that’s what we need to do,” Johnson said.

On the school district, Johnson said, “We’ve been giving them more funding for many, many years, and the product that we’re giving out still hasn’t justified that we just keep throwing money. … Having the students not be able to read on grade level or do math on their grade level, that’s unacceptable.”

Last week, the school district approved a $4.6 billion operating budget with almost $220 million in cuts aimed at curbing its projected $300 million structural deficit. The Philadelphia School District is the only district in Pennsylvania without the authority to raise its own revenue through taxes.

Amid the district’s struggles, Johnson says school choice is a solution for parents seeking a better education for their children.

School choice directs funds from the school district, sending students to private and charter schools. The district currently has a school selection program; however, this only applies to district schools, not private or charter schools.

Johnson says that a private and charter school selection program can be funded through “oversight and adjusting and allocating how the money is spent. In other words, how much are we going to spend per student, and how is that money going to look in comparison to what actually goes on in the classroom, and how much of that money is going to be used for administrative costs.”

He added that admission to this program would “depend on where they’re getting the voucher from and who’s allocating for those vouchers. Certain schools, you have to test into.”

On affordability, Johnson targeted utility bills, and says an increase in drilling and fracking is the solution.

“One of the ways that we can do that in Pennsylvania, in particular, is right under our feet we have all the natural resources,” Johnson said. “We have enough natural resources under our feet where it could affect people in Pennsylvania, where it could bring their bills down.”

When asked about environmental concerns and lowering energy costs, Johnson did not specify how agreements with drilling companies would be structured to lower costs, but said, “Most of the studies that I’ve seen or heard have looked at what other places are doing. … They’re looking at how to purify those things, and so again, if it’s safe and it’s going to help lower costs, which we know it does, then I’m all for it.”

On the issue of public safety, Johnson favored an increase in police presence and community policing.

Last year, Philadelphia saw a historic low in homicides from about 560 in 2021 to about 220 in 2025. Johnson disputed those numbers, saying that members of his community don’t feel safe.

“We can skew statistics to make them say what we want, but someone like myself, who lives in those neighborhoods, and lives in a neighborhood where I do see crime occasionally,” Johnson said. “Whatever the statistics might be that DA [Larry] Krasner is putting out. [What’s more important is], how do the neighbors feel about crime? Do you think your neighborhood is safer now than it was four years ago, 10 years ago, 20 years ago, and I would tell you overwhelmingly many of them who live in certain areas in the district would tell you resoundingly no.”

On issues like abortion and gay rights, Johnson said, “I don’t see, when I talk to my neighbors and the people in the community, that doesn’t seem to be high on their radar, and it’s not high on my radar.”

On his website, friendsoftoddjohnson.godaddysites.com, Johnson lists a number of issues important to his campaign, including public safety and the economy.

The first issue listed focuses on the school district: “Can you believe our public schools are hosting drag queen story hour? Not only that, but they are introducing inappropriate themes outside of our children’s wheelhouse, like race and gender.”

In the section under abortion, Johnson says that “acknowledging the complexity of the abortion issue is both a service to the American people and, most significantly, unborn life. My opponent tends to take an absolutist and extreme approach in his stance on abortion. I would not do so, as it would hurt my ability to represent my District as intended.”

Johnson is running in Pennsylvania’s State Senate District 4, representing Northwest Philadelphia and parts of Montgomery County, a district that has voted overwhelmingly Democratic in recent elections. He hopes to build back Republican support in the district.

“It’s getting people to see that whether you have a D or R in front of your name, that first, you’re human, and that you’re a person, an agent of change,” he said. “So I think you can change the view of the party, one person, one block, one neighborhood at a time, and by that I mean people need to see us in the community working, not just when the cameras are on, but they need to see us helping to solve problems and issues. So I want to be a person who solves issues.”​