Georgia Republican convicted in Jan. 6 riot walks out during televised congressional primary debate

A Georgia congressional candidate convicted of a misdemeanor for illegally demonstrating inside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, walked out of a televised debate with a fellow Republican on Sunday ahead of a June 18 primary runoff.

It was the latest volatile turn in southwest Georgia’s 2nd Congressional District, where Chuck Hand and Wayne Johnson are competing for the GOP nomination to take on 16-term Democratic incumbent Rep. Sanford Bishop in November.

Hand is one of at least four people convicted of Jan. 6 crimes running for Congress this year, all as Republicans. He was sentenced to 20 days in federal prison and six months of probation.

At the beginning of a debate sponsored by the Atlanta Press Club, Hand said he was refusing to debate Johnson after Michael Nixon, who finished third in the four-way May 21 primary, gave a news conference last month endorsing Johnson.

Nixon brought up a 2005 criminal trespass charge and a 2010 DUI charge against Hand, both of which were dismissed. Nixon also cited federal court documents to argue Hand’s participation in the Jan. 6 riot was more serious than Hand had claimed.

“This is where I get back in my truck and go back to southwest Georgia because I’ve got two races to win,” Hand said, walking out of the studio while cameras were rolling.

“You’re not staying?” asked anchor Donna Lowry. “You’re leaving, sir? OK.”

“Wow, I don’t even know how to react,” Johnson said.

Johnson, an official in the U.S. Education Department during the Donald Trump administration, said Hand’s exit is more proof that Hand isn’t fit to be the Republican nominee.

“I would like to assume that Chuck Hand’s departure, the way in which he did it today, was his withdrawal from the race,” Johnson told reporters