Republican Wayne Johnson, a former Trump administration official, has won the Republican runoff election for a seat in the Georgia House of Representatives, defeating a candidate, according to Decision Desk HQ sentenced of an offense in connection with the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Johnson defeated Chuck Hand in the race for Democratic Representative Sanford Bishop’s seat in the Peach State’s 2nd Congressional District, becoming the Republican nominee.
Johnson won a majority of the vote in last month’s primary, but his 45 percent support was not enough to avoid a runoff. He had the edge going into Tuesday’s election, but Hand’s endorsement was nonetheless seen as a sign that some in the Republican Party are ready to welcome a Jan. 6 convict into Congress more than three years after the riot.
hand pleaded guilty in 2022 for illegally demonstrating at the Capitol and was sentenced to 20 days in jail, according to Justice Department documents.
Wayne served during the Trump administration as Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer and Chief Operating Officer for the Department of Education’s Office of Federal Student Aid. Chris West, the Republican candidate for Georgia’s 2nd Congressional District in 2022, approved Johnson a week before the runoff election and praised him as the best candidate “to help Donald Trump get back into the White House.”
The race took place when former President Trump praise “J6 warriors” on the campaign trail. Political observers say Trump, who has dismissed his own legal battles as politically motivated, is opening the door for voters to simply dismiss the Jan. 6 convictions.
But Johnson emerged victorious in Tuesday’s runoff election and will now face Bishop, who has served for 16 terms, in November in the long-held Democratic district.
