Meet Michael Johnson, the man who thinks he can beat Congressman John Lewis

For more than 25 years, Congressman John Lewis has represented Atlanta in Washington, D.C. Every candidate who’s tried to unseat the leader of the Civil Rights movement from his heavily Democratic district has failed.

Some political observers and City Hall gadflies have speculated that Lewis, who turned 72 in February, would opt not to run for re-election this year and pass the torch to Mayor Kasim Reed, who’s been considered the likely successor. (Whether that scenario plays out or not is anyone’s guess. We’ve been hearing the rumor since before Reed, who’s running for a second term in 2013, took office.)

Well, Lewis doesn’t want to leave D.C. just yet. And unlike previous years, the congressman’s challenger Michael Johnson has some political experience. And the former Fulton County judge, prosecutor, and Morehouse graduate has been making the rounds for quite a while. He’s also married to Alison Holmes, the daughter of Dr. Hamilton E. Holmes and Marilyn Vincent Holmes. Here’s Johnson in a video released yesterday featuring the endorsement by Original Tuskegee Airman Leroy Eley:

According to some pollsters, Johnson’s got an uphill climb. Lewis is a long-serving, well-known, and well-liked incumbent. Former Mayor Shirley Franklin’s Blogging While Blue last year ran a poll that found Lewis to be virtually unbeatable. And a recent mystery poll of more than 1,700 “Democratic Georgians” says the congressman enjoys an 84 percent approval rating. The poll also found that Lewis “outpaced” Johnson and, in a hypothetical match-up, Reed. (Jim Galloway wondered who commissioned the poll, which was conducted by Milton-based HEG LLC. He spoke with Lewis spokeswoman Beverly Isom, who, some folks might recall as former Mayor Shirley Franklin’s spokeswoman. She emphatically denied the campaign had anything to do with the survey.)

Plus, Lewis has shown that, even when faced with primary challengers such as Markel Hutchins, the former spokesman for the family of Kathryn Johnston, and former state Rep. “Able” Mable Thomas, that he’ll shake hands, attend events, and wave signs to woo voters.

In sum, this contest should be fun to watch. Johnson and Lewis face off in the Democratic primary on July 31, the same day metro Atlanta voters decide the regional transportation tax. Place yer bets.