ATLANTA (AP) — A Georgia congressional candidate convicted of a misdemeanor for unlawfully demonstrating inside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, has A televised debate with his Republican colleagues The vote took place on Sunday ahead of the June 18 primary runoff election.
It’s the latest volatile development in southwest Georgia’s 2nd Congressional District, where Chuck Hand and Wayne Johnson are vying for the Republican nomination against 16-term Democratic incumbent Congressman Sanford Bishop In November.
Hand is one of at least four people convicted for the Jan. 6 crimes. run for parliament This year, as a Republican, he served 20 days in federal prison and six months of probation.
At the start of the debate, hosted by the Atlanta Press Club, Hand said he was refusing to debate Johnson because Michael Nixon, who came in third in the four-way primary on May 21, held a press conference last month endorsing Johnson.
Nixon filed trespassing charges against Hand in 2005 and drunk driving charges in 2010, both of which were dismissed. Nixon also Federal Court Documents They argue that Hand’s participation in the January 6th riot was more serious than he has claimed.
“Now I’m heading back to the track, back to Southwest Georgia because I need to win two races,” Hand said as he left the studio with cameras rolling.
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“You’re not staying?” asked anchor Donna Lawley. “You’re leaving? Okay.”
“Wow, I don’t know how to react,” Johnson said.
Johnson, who served as a U.S. Department of Education official under President Donald Trump, said Hand’s resignation is further evidence that he is unfit to be the Republican nominee.
“I’d like to think that what Chuck Hand did today is withdraw from the race,” Johnson told reporters after the election, “but it certainly should cause people to stop and think about why he did it and what he hoped to gain from it.”
Hand, who took questions from reporters for nearly 20 minutes after leaving the debate, said he believed Johnson helped Nixon plan the attack, and was particularly critical of Nixon for bringing up his wife’s previous conviction for illegally selling oxycodone.
“It’s perfectly fine to attack me as a candidate, that’s perfectly fine, but it’s quite another to publicly attack my wife,” Hand said. “She paid her debt to society long before I ever met her.”
He attacked Johnson for not living within the boundaries of his district, which is not required for House candidates.
Hand, a construction foreman from rural Butler, again cast himself as leading a working-class movement to improve economic conditions in one of Georgia’s poorest communities. He said he would rally black and white workers under the banner of Donald Trump. Throughout the campaign, Hand has scorned the traditional dress code for political candidates, and on Sunday he wore a blue denim shirt and a Caterpillar baseball cap.
Johnson received about 45% of the vote. In the May 21 primary Hand, meanwhile, received about 32% of the vote. Because no candidate received a majority, voters will decide in a runoff election. Early voting begins Monday ahead of the June 18 election.
“This election isn’t won by money. It’s won by hearts, by voters,” Hand said. “The coalitions we’ve built on the ground over the last few years are going to win this election. It’s the local grassroots activists who’ve done the groundwork who are going to win in November. America First? I’m the 2nd District First candidate.”
Johnson has argued for a more moderate stance and said Republicans trying to beat Bishop need to appeal more to black Democrats who have supported the longtime incumbent. During the debate, Johnson said he did not support proposed Republican cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as food stamps.
“You need to get 50,000 people who normally vote Democrat to vote Republican,” Johnson told reporters after the debate. “And it’s basically based on, ‘Can you prove to people that this is actually going to make their lives better? Can you demonstrate it up front?'”
Johnson denied Hand’s attacks about him living in Macon, just outside his district, saying he has investments in businesses there and, if elected, plans to move to a home he owns in Plains, former President Jimmy Carter’s hometown.
