Obama picks Atlantan to lead Southern region campaign

By Associated Press

For the AJC

The man who orchestrated Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed's campaign has been tapped to help President Barack Obama win the South in 2012.

A spokesman for Obama for America says Tharon Johnson has joined the campaign as the southern regional director and will be "a key part to building the organization" in the area.

Obama did not win Georgia in 2008, and the only southern states he did win were Virginia, North Carolina and Florida.

Johnson, who ran Reed's 2009 campaign and later served as his senior adviser, also spearheaded campaigns for former Georgia Labor Commissioner Mike Thurmond and U.S. Reps. John Barrow and John Lewis. He later worked for both congressmen.

Johnson was raised in Athens and is a graduate of Clark Atlanta University.

In January, Johnson resigned as senior adviser to Reed to accept a position as a partner for Piedmont Public Affairs, one of Georgia's leading government affairs firms. There, he lobbied on local and state governmental issues. He was hired by Georgia’s supermarket lobby to represent it during this year’s legislative debate over the bill to authorize Sunday alcohol sales referendums.

Johnson recently joined McKenna Long as a senior adviser.