Former television news anchor and Congressman Jay Johnson has died from an apparent heart attack at his home in suburban Washington, DC.

Johnson served one term as a U.S. Congressman, representing the 8th Congressional District in Wisconsin beginning in 1996. Following that, Johnson worked as Director of the U.S. Mint in 2000-2001, and recently worked at Jay Johnson Coins and Consulting and was one of the Spokespersons for GoldLine International.

Johnson, 66, had a 32-year journalism career that included work as news anchor at WFRV-TV from 1980 to 1986 and WLUK-TV from 1987 until his election to Congress in 1996.

“He was a good guy and he was kind to everybody. He was always a gentleman in every sense of the word,” said Mary Smits Larsen, who was Johnson’s co-anchor at WFRV.

A Democrat, Johnson ran twice for Congress, beating former state Rep. David Prosser of Appleton in 1996 and losing to former state Rep. Mark Green of Hobart in 1998.

After he left Congress, Johnson became the director of the U.S. Mint in 2000, appointed by President Bill Clinton. He held for about one year. His most recent position was with Jay Johnson Coins and Consulting where he developed a major wholesale coin sales program for a national bank. Johnson worked as a consultant and returned to the airwaves, this time, promoting gold as a Spokesperson for GoldLine International.

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