GOP Candidate Says We Need to 'Clean House' of Ungodly People in Government

Republican candidate for the Michigan House of Representatives Gina Johnsen said that, if elected, she will govern with "prayers undergirding" her administration, and talked of "cleaning house" of those who she defined as ungodly in government.

"We will get things done correctly with prayer undergirding us, giving us our wisdom unifying with those who are godly in government and cleaning house of those who are not," Johnsen said in a video shared on Twitter from her speech at the "Save Michigan With Faith" rally held between June 2 and 4.

"We gotta do it God's way," she added, as the audience clapped.

Lansing-born Johnsen has not held public office, having worked for the past 20 years in the healthcare industry, including as a life and health insurance agent. On her official website, she talks of having been a grassroots political leader for the past two decades.

In 2020, she won the Republican primary, defeating Christine Barnes to run as the GOP nominee for Michigan House's District 71 seat. In the general election on November 3, 2020, she was beaten by Democrat nominee Angela Witwer, who got 51.2 percent of the vote against Johnsen's 47.3 percent.

The Republican candidate now has another chance to win the Michigan House of Representative general election, this time for District 78. On August 2, Johnsen advanced in the Republican primary, defeating Ben Geiger and Barnes with 45.4 percent of the vote against Geiger's 30.1 percent and Barnes' 24.6 percent. She will be facing Democrat nominee Leah Groves in November.

Ballotpedia —a nonprofit and nonpartisan online political encyclopedia that covers federal, state, and local politics, elections, and public policy in the U.S.— writes that Johnsen has been associated with the Michigan Capitol House of Prayer as a director and Protect Life Michigan as a member of the Advisory Board of Directors.

On her Twitter bio, Johnsen refers to herself as a "faith leader," and her involvement as a Christian candidate is clear from her public and political engagements. In the fall of 2021, Johnsen founded a Christian elementary school and an upper level homeschool academy, according to her website.

On September 15 she held a "Christian Engagement Rally" at Lansing Capitol Lawn in Michigan. "It is time to bring our Church back to the Capitol," she wrote on Twitter advertising the event.

As a candidate, Johnsen stands against critical race theory—a decades-old but controversial academic theory that examines America's history and institutions through the lens of racism— and diversity, equity, and inclusion being taught in school, and she promises to fight to "keep boys in boys' sports and girls in girls' sports," apparently referring to a debate around trans rights.

She is anti-abortion and anti-gun control. "I will always be in opposition to hideous abortion laws," she said in a tweet from February 2020 calling for support. "I will always be a no vote on gun control."

Newsweek has contacted Johnsen for comment.

Johnsen's pledge to govern following Christian values and get rid of the "ungodly" politicians in government are in line with a movement which has been forming within the GOP, which is calling for the party to become the representative of "Christian nationalism."

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado and Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano have all questioned the principle of the separation of the state and the church in government, with Greene saying that Christian nationalism isn't a label to be "ashamed" of but one which the GOP should be embracing.

Talking of being "attacked" for her support to Christian nationalism, which draws a parallel between being American and being Christian, Greene wrote on Twitter on July 26 that alarm over her stance against the separation of state and church was coming from "the godless left."

"I am being attacked by the godless left because I said I'm a proud Christian Nationalist. These evil people are even calling me a Nazi because I proudly love my country and my God. The left has shown us exactly who they are. They hate America, they hate God, and they hate us," she wrote.

Former president Donald Trump has appeared to support the concept of Christian nationalism. During a speech in Tampa, Florida, on July 24 he said that "Americans kneel to God" alone.

"We will not break, we will not yield, we will never give in, we will never give up, we will never, ever, ever back down. As long as we are confident and united, the tyrants we are fighting do not stand a chance," Trump said during a speech held by Turning Point USA. "Because we are Americans and Americans kneel to God, and God alone."

The U.S. constitution protects the right of citizens to profess any faith, under the principle reading: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."