- - Florida man who carried Pelosi's lectern on Jan. 6 runs for office

Kim Luciani and Melissa Pérez-Carrillo, USA TODAY NETWORKJanuary 11, 2026 at 11:01 PM

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Adam Johnson, the Florida man who became known as 'Podium Guy' after a photo of him posing with Nancy Pelosi's lectern during the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot went viral, is running for public office in the Sunshine State.

Johnson filed to run for the District 6 seat on the Manatee County Commission. He was arrested in 2021 for his role in the insurrection and theft of the lectern, and later pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge.

The lectern was returned to Pelosi, and she stood at it when she signed the article of impeachment against President Donald Trump. Trump pardoned Johnson, along with nearly 1,600 others, the day he took office for his second term on Jan. 20, 2025.

"For too long, the forgotten conservative has watched county government waste money, cut corrupt deals, and ignore the problems that matter to working families," Johnson said on his campaign website.

Here's what we know about Johnson and his bid for elected office:

What's Adam Johnson's platform?

He is largely running on an affordability platform, calling for lower cost of living for working families, sustainable infrastructure growth, reducing traffic congestion, and exposing corruption and wasteful contracts.

"This is what 'America First' looks like at the county level," Johnson wrote on his campaign site. "This is MAGA in action."

Johnson will be challenging incumbent commissioner Jason Bearden, who snagged 61.5% of the votes in the Republican primary race for the district in 2022.

Who is Adam Johnson?

Born in the small town of Millington, Tennessee, Johnson has lived most of his life in Southwest Florida, USA TODAY reported in 2021. With long, light brown hair and tattoos of crosses on his chest and left arm, he holds a fishing license, makes furniture, and attends a Baptist church.

USA TODAY used public records, news accounts, and social media to piece together Johnson’s story.

While he was in his late teens and early 20s, police in Manatee County arrested Johnson on two separate misdemeanor marijuana charges. In 2005, he violated probation by failing to submit the required supervision reports, along with proof that he’d completed community service and substance abuse counseling. At the time, he lived at his mother’s home in Bradenton and listed his occupation as a cook, police records showed.

Financial problems appear to have strained his marriage to his first wife. The couple was evicted from their apartment in July 2010, with $1,098 past due. Their divorce was finalized the following January, according to court records.

Within five months, Johnson remarried to a physician, and his fortunes began to turn. They moved into a home in Parrish together, and by December 2015, the couple sold the house for a nearly $60,000 profit, according to the property deeds.

Adam Johnson is pictured carrying the lectern of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi through the Capitol Building on Jan. 6, 2021.Adam Johnson sues Manatee County, Florida, over uncollected legal fees

In March 2025, Johnson sued Manatee County and six county commissioners for not collecting legal fees from former commissioner and The Bradenton Times publisher Joe McClash, stemming from a 2023 suit filed by McClash over repealed local wetlands protections.

Johnson claims that following the 2024 elections, Manatee County commissioners "corruptly" voted to benefit Joe McClash by not collecting attorney's fees related to a lawsuit he filed against a previous board for repealing all local wetlands protections, many of which were implemented during his tenure and exceeded state-level policies, as reported by the Herald-Tribune, part of the USA TODAY Network.

How Adam Johnson got caught after Jan. 6 Capitol breach

Allan Mestel, a Southwest Florida photographer who followed the Capitol breach online, saw a photo of a man in a Trump toque carrying Pelosi's lectern. And he knew the man's name: Adam Christian Johnson.

The two men from Southwest Florida's Manatee County had crossed paths before, according to previous reporting from USA TODAY. The day of the riot, Mestel filled out a form on the FBI website explaining what he knew about Johnson, and by the next morning, he’d heard from an FBI agent.

"This is a serious case," federal prosecutor Patrick Scruggs told the judge at Johnson’s first court appearance. "Everyone involved in the storming of the Capitol last week needs to be held accountable for their actions, including Mr. Johnson."

Contributing: Josh Salman, Carlos R. Munoz, USA TODAY

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Jan. 6 riot 'Podium Guy' Adam Johnson runs for office in Florida

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