AP Decision Notes: What to expect in Georgia's primary runoffs
A southwest Georgia Republican who went to prison for his actions inside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, may come a step closer to serving in Congress when the state holds primary runoff elections in some U.S. House and state legislative races
WASHINGTON (AP) — A southwest Georgia Republican who served a brief federal prison sentence for his actions inside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, is among those running on Tuesday for a chance to serve in Congress when the state holds primary runoff elections in a handful of U.S. House and state legislative races.
The contests will determine who will challenge two U.S. House members from opposite ends of Georgia’s political spectrum: 16-term Democratic Rep. Sanford Bishop and two-term Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. The Republican race in Bishop’s 2nd Congressional District is the latest example of someone convicted of a crime on Jan. 6 seeking to return to the Capitol as a member of Congress.
Bishop’s Republican general election opponent will be either Chuck Hand, a construction superintendent who pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of illegally demonstrating inside the Capitol Building on Jan. 6, or Wayne Johnson, a former U.S. Department of Education official in the Trump administration. Johnson placed first in the May 21 Republican primary with about 45% of the vote, short of the majority vote needed to avoid Tuesday’s runoff. Hand received 32% of the vote.
