Johnson, of Holly, a former public school teacher and small business owner, was clerk and register of deeds of Oakland County, a suburban area immediately north of Detroit with a population of more than one million, prior to her election as secretary of state in November 2010. She was elected clerk of Oakland County in 2004 after defeating a long-time incumbent in the Republican primary, and was the first woman clerk in Oakland County's 176-year history. From 1988 to 1998, she was a member of the Oakland County Board of Commissioners. Johnson was elected to the Michigan House of Representatives in 1998, and re-elected in 2000 and 2002; term limits made her ineligible for a fourth term.
As secretary of state, Johnson has made improving customer service, strengthening Michigan elections, protecting consumers and increasing the number of people on the Michigan Organ Donor Registry the top priorities of the Michigan Department of State. Johnson tripled the number of Secretary of State services available online at . She also implemented , a new line management tool at some of the busiest Secretary of State offices. The service allows customers to hold their place in line electronically while they stay home or run errands. In July 2017, Ruth Johnson agreed to provide Michigan voter registration information to a federal commission created by Trump to investigate alleged illegal voting by "millions" that he says will prove he won the popular vote in the 2016 election SOS Johnson has indicated she will only provide basic public voter information. In 2014, Michigan was named the best state in the nation for registering qualified U.S. citizens at state motor-vehicle offices, according to USA Today. Also in 2014, the University of Michigan's Center for Local, State and Urban Policy found that the Secretary of State's Office was rated the second best state agency for job performance by community leaders. That same year, the state's Mackinac Bridge license plate was named the best designed plate in the world. Because of a change Johnson made to her office's policy, the number of Michigan residents who have joined the has increased from 27 percent to 62 percent. Johnson directed office staff to ask customers if they wanted to join the registry. During her time in office, Michigan added 2.7 million people to the donor registry. Michigan is now one of the top 10 states for organ donor registration growth. The Michigan secretary of state position is traditionally a leading advocate of traffic safety initiatives because of the office's driver licensing responsibilities, and Johnson also has led efforts to reduce traffic crashes and fatalities. As secretary, Johnson has promoted motorcycle safety initiatives, such as wearing high-visibility gear and encouraging riders to get a cycle endorsement. Johnson herself is a licensed motorcycle rider and often rides in to motorcycle-related news conferences. Johnson also has pushed her departments to foster safe driving among teens. After reviewing the department's teen driver licensing program, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration offered recommendations for improvement but overall gave the program high praise for combating the leading cause of death for teens in the United States. After her tenure as Secretary of State, she was elected as a Michigan State Senator.
2014 Secretary of State election
In 2014, Johnson defeated Detroit lawyer and Democrat Godfrey Dillard, Libertarian James Lewis, US Taxpayers Robert Gale, and Natural Law Jason Gatties to earn a second term by 10.6 percentage points, receiving 1,649,047 votes to the defeated candidates 1,431,748 votes. She drew more votes than any other Republican candidate on the ballot.
2010 Secretary of State election
In 2010, she won the Republican nomination for secretary of state at the party's state convention. Her opponents were Paul Scott, Michelle McManus, Anne Norlander and Cameron Brown. She went on to win the general election defeating Democrat Jocelyn Benson, Libertarian Scotty Boman, Green John Anthony La Pietra, and US Taxpayer Robert Gale.
