A Republican House candidate in Georgia who was convicted for his role in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol stormed off the stage during a televised GOP primary debate on Sunday.
Chuck Hand, one of the two GOP candidates seeking the party’s nomination in Georgia’s second congressional district, walked out of the studio while cameras were rolling because he refused to debate his opponent Wayne Johnson after a former candidate Michael Nixon dropped out of the race and endorsed Johnson, according to the Associated Press.
“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 as he walked out of the studio.
“You’re not staying?” anchor Donna Lowry asked. “You’re leaving, sir? OK.”
“Wow, I don’t even know how to react,” Johnson said.
Speaking to reporters after walking out, Hand accused Johnson of “orchestrating” attacks on his wife.
“It’s perfectly fine to attack me as a candidate. I expect that,” he said. “But to come out and publicly attack my wife, that’s a completely different situation. My wife had paid her debt to society long before I ever met her.”
But Johnson did not attack wife, Nixon did. At the press conference announcing his endorsement Nixon reportedly brought up the fact that Hand’s wife was convicted of a felony oxycodone charge in 2008 and sentenced to a year in jail.
Hand himself faced a criminal trespass charge in 2005 and a DUI charge in 2010 though both were dismissed. Nixon also said Hand’s role in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot was more serious than he had claimed.
Hand was convicted of a misdemeanor for illegally demonstrating inside the U.S. Capitol and sentenced to 20 days in jail and six months of probation.
“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 after Hand walked out. “But it certainly should cause people to pause and think about why he did it and what he was trying to get by doing it.”
Johnson and Hand advanced to a runoff election on June 18 as they were the top two candidates in the May 21 primary where no candidate in the field received more than 50% of the vote. The winner of the runoff election will face 16-term Democratic incumbent Rep. Sanford Bishop in November.
