Johnson casts last Senate vote

Photo: Senator Johnson listens to US Senate candidate Rick Weiland during the South Dakota Democratic Convention in Yankton.

The marathon voting session that kept Sen. Tim Johnson and other lawmakers working through the weekend finally came to an end late Tuesday night. Johnson's late night ended with the retiring South Dakota Democrat casting his final vote – a "yes" to confirm Stephen Bough as a U.S. district judge for western Missouri. Last week, Johnson said goodbye to the Senate in a 13-minute speech that at times criticized how Washington has changed during his time in office. Johnson went to great lengths to underscore the need to compromise and bemoaned a growing lack of bipartisanship in Congress, at times referencing final speeches from lawmakers such as former Democratic Sen. Tom Daschle. "Each party, rather than work cooperatively for the American people, is more and more focused on winning the next election. Mr. President, we have lost our way," Johnson said during his farewell remarks. [Christopher Doering, Sioux Falls Argus Leader]

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