Name: Bryson Johnson
Age: 44
Party affiliation: Republican
Campaign website: Brysonfornc.com
Occupation & employer: Cybersecurity Engineer and 20-Year Business Owner
Years lived in the area: 20 years
1. What in your background qualifies you to represent the people of your North Carolina district effectively? What would you cite as your three biggest career accomplishments?
“I believe my background gives me a perspective that is often missing in politics. I’m a husband, father, small-business owner, cybersecurity professional, martial arts instructor, and someone who has spent decades working directly with families in our community. I understand what it means to meet a payroll, manage rising costs, solve complicated problems, protect critical systems, and be accountable when something goes wrong.
For more than 20 years, my wife and I have operated Johnson’s Martial Arts in this community. That experience has allowed me to work with thousands of children and families from many different backgrounds. It has taught me that leadership starts with listening and that people have far more in common than our political system sometimes suggests.
Professionally, I have spent years working in cybersecurity and technology in highly regulated environments, including healthcare and critical infrastructure. My work requires me to evaluate risk, understand regulations, protect sensitive information, solve problems, and make decisions where getting it wrong can have serious consequences. That experience is especially relevant as North Carolina confronts issues involving artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, data privacy, critical infrastructure, and government accountability.
If I had to identify my three biggest career accomplishments, I would say:
- Building Johnson’s Martial Arts and serving thousands of families.
Building a successful small business for more than two decades is something I’m extremely proud of. But the bigger accomplishment is the impact we have had on young people. We haven’t simply taught martial arts; we have taught courtesy, integrity, perseverance, self-control, leadership, confidence, and the importance of contributing to something bigger than yourself. - Building a career protecting important technology and information.
I have worked in cybersecurity and technology in complex, regulated environments, including work involving healthcare and critical infrastructure. I previously held a Top Secret security clearance with a polygraph. My career has required technical knowledge, judgment, confidentiality, risk management, and the ability to work with people across an organization to solve difficult problems. - Turning ideas into real-world accomplishments.
I wrote Empowered Kids and developed a product, which I ultimately pitched through the Shark Tank process. Those experiences represent something important about how I approach challenges: I don’t just talk about ideas. I try to build them, test them, improve them, and turn them into something tangible.
That combination of experiences is what I would bring to the North Carolina House. I’m not a career politician. I have spent my career building things, protecting things, teaching people, solving problems, and being accountable for results. I believe District 21 deserves that same results-oriented approach in Raleigh.”
2. What do you believe to be the three most pressing issues facing the next General Assembly? What steps do you believe the state should take to address them?
“The three most pressing issues facing the next General Assembly are fiscal responsibility and economic growth, public safety, and protecting North Carolinians in an increasingly digital world.
- Pass a responsible state budget every single year and grow our economy.
We need a budget EVERY SINGLE YEAR. North Carolina families, teachers, state employees, local governments, and businesses have to plan their finances, and state government should be held to the same standard. I support keeping taxes competitive, but we cannot eliminate so much of our tax base that we jeopardize essential services or our ability to invest in the future. We need disciplined spending, elimination of waste, fraud, and abuse, and policies that expand our tax base by attracting businesses and creating good-paying jobs.
- Protect people from violent crime.
Government has no more fundamental responsibility than protecting its citizens. I support mandatory minimum sentences for serious violent and sexual crimes so dangerous offenders cannot simply cycle through the criminal justice system. Judges and district attorneys should have discretion, but there must also be accountability when violent offenders are repeatedly released and commit additional crimes. Our priority should be protecting victims, families, and communities while ensuring that constitutional rights and due process are respected.
- Protect our infrastructure, personal information, and privacy.
Public safety today isn’t limited to what happens on our streets. North Carolina must strengthen the cybersecurity of state government and critical infrastructure, protect residents’ personal information from cybercriminals and foreign threats, and establish clear rules for emerging surveillance technologies.
As a cybersecurity professional, I understand that technology can make us safer while simultaneously creating new risks to our privacy. North Carolina needs stronger cybersecurity standards, better incident preparedness, responsible governance of artificial intelligence, and meaningful safeguards around technologies such as automated license-plate readers and other forms of mass surveillance. Law enforcement should have the tools necessary to protect us, but those tools must operate within clear constitutional boundaries.
Ultimately, all three issues come back to the same principle: government has to perform its basic responsibilities well—manage taxpayers’ money responsibly, create an environment where our economy can grow, keep people safe, and protect their rights.”
3. Federal cuts to Medicaid are expected to cost the state $50 billion over the next decade, according to the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services. How would you address Medicaid funding to maintain coverage for the millions of North Carolinians enrolled?
My goal would be straightforward: protect coverage for our most vulnerable citizens, protect access to doctors and hospitals, eliminate waste wherever we find it, maximize the federal resources available to North Carolina, and make the difficult budget decisions necessary to keep Medicaid sustainable for the long term.
4. The General Assembly has voted to put a constitutional amendment on ballots that, if passed, would put a cap on property tax increases. Do you support the amendment? Why or why not?
Absolutely, property taxes have doubled over 10 years. We MUST rein in our spending. Your family must have a budget, so must government.
5. How would you address the rising costs of housing, childcare, and basic necessities facing North Carolina families?
We not only have to grow. We have to rein in government spending. I want North Carolina to be a pro-business state, and a pro-working family state that stops treating the family pocketbook like an unlimited source of revenue.
6. Climate disasters are intensifying: Hurricane Helene devastated Western North Carolina in 2024, Tropical Storm Chantal flooded the Triangle in 2025, and coastal erosion threatens the Outer Banks. With much affordable housing located in flood-prone areas and FEMA resources stretched thin, what is your plan for climate resilience and disaster relief?
“First, we need to invest in infrastructure before disasters occur. That means identifying flood-prone roads, bridges, dams, drainage systems, utilities, and other critical infrastructure and prioritizing improvements based on actual risk.
Next, we MUST be more self-sufficient as a state in which we can operate if the federal government is overwhelmed.
Lastly, After a disaster, people shouldn’t spend months or years navigating bureaucracy while money sits unused. We need clear timelines, transparent reporting of disaster funds, and measurable results.”
7. The General Assembly recently passed a new congressional redistricting map. This marks the state’s seventh congressional map since 2016. How do you view the most recent redistricting? And do you support independent redistricting processes, or do you believe the legislature should retain this power?
Gerrymandering is like the US Senate filibuster. The people in charge won’t police themselves. I reject that mentality. That’s why I pledged for term limits in not only Congress but I’d vote for them in the NC Assembly. Eliminate the others, or not. Just don’t complain about them when the opposition uses them. That makes us them ALL hypocrites. I’ve got a backbone and will make good choices like these.
8. North Carolina ranks near the bottom nationally in teacher pay. How would you address teacher compensation, and what will you do to ensure a budget passes that adequately funds education?
I would have been speaking on the floor last year pushing for a state budget. It is unacceptable that our teachers and government workers are not considered worthy enough of a cost-of-living raise. If inflation is 3%, that means you lose buying power. Not under my watch.
9. North Carolina currently has a 12-week abortion ban with certain exceptions. Some legislators have proposed further restrictions. Do you support the current law, believe access should be expanded, or would you support further restrictions?
I do not support changes to the Abortion Law.
10. Federal legislation will ban most hemp-derived THC products, like Delta-8, by December 2026, threatening North Carolina’s hemp industry. Meanwhile, recreational marijuana remains illegal and medical marijuana bills have stalled. What is your position on hemp regulation and would you address the upcoming federal ban, if at all?
I support responsible medical use, but I do not support recreational legalization.
11. Iryna’s Law eliminates cashless bail, requires mental health evaluations for certain defendants, and attempts to restart the death penalty by requiring alternative execution methods if lethal injection is unavailable. The law also accelerates death penalty appeals. Where do you stand on the death penalty and these criminal justice reforms?
Victims deserve justice. I believe in the strongest consequences for violent criminals.
12. Tech companies are investing heavily in North Carolina data centers, bringing tax revenue but also consuming significant electricity and water resources. How should the state balance data center investment with environmental protection and community concerns?
You are not owned by the Communist Chinese Party if you have questions on Data Centers. I reject those that require a binary choice. Data Centers are essential. Most citizens don’t want them 100 yards from their home.
13. Give an example of an opinion, policy, vote or action you changed based on constituent feedback. If you have not yet held elected office, describe a time when you changed your position on an issue after listening to those affected by it.
“One example involves school choice. I initially viewed the issue primarily through the lens of giving parents as many educational options as possible. After listening to parents, teachers, and others in the community, I came to better understand that expanding educational choices must be balanced alongside strong public schools.
I support school vouchers, but I have become particularly supportive of charter schools because they provide families with additional choices while remaining part of the public education system.”
14. Are there any issues this questionnaire has not addressed that you would like to address?
I don’t accept PAC money.
I am not owned by party or special interests.
I am not going to be a serial campaigner.
I condemn ALL rhetoric, not just when it fits within my narrative.
These make me polar opposite to my opponent. I’d rather be your 90% friend, but many have lost that ability. We need to bring it back, and I’ll do my part to fight for decent dialogue.
