Former federal official Johnson and ex-Trump aide Jack win Georgia GOP nominations for US House

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia Republicans settled two congressional nominations in Tuesday runoffs, with a former federal official defeating a man who was convicted for illegally demonstrating inside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and an ex-aide to Donald Trump winning in a race for an open seat in another district.

Meanwhile Democrats chose their candidate to run against Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene in the November general election.

The two parties were also picking nominees in eight state legislative runoffs where no one won a majority in the May 21 primaries.

Here's a look at the races:

Former U.S. Education Department official Wayne Johnson beat convicted Jan. 6 offender Chuck Hand for the Republican nomination in the 2nd Congressional District.

“I think that people are looking for solutions,” Johnson told The Associated Press by phone afterward. “They’re looking for people that can bring some experience to bear. And I think I was successful in communicating that I’m a solutions-focused person.”

Johnson will challenge 16-term Democratic incumbent Rep. Sanford Bishop in the district, which sprawls across 30 counties in southwest Georgia, stretching into Columbus and Macon. The district has delivered comfortable Democratic majorities in recent years.

Johnson is promising closer attention to the area's needs, including its military bases. He said voters believe Bishop hasn't done enough to improve economic conditions in a region that includes some of the state's poorest counties.

“It’s not that they feel he’s responsible,” Johnson said. “They just don’t feel like he’s done anything consequential to lift it up or to propel it forward.”

Johnson was the top vote-getter in the four-way May 21 primary, but the second-place finisher Hand drew notice after criticizing Johnson and then walking out of a televised debate.

Hand, a construction superintendent, was sentenced to 20 days in federal prison and six months of probation after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor offense in connection with the Capitol riot. He is one of at least five people convicted of Jan. 6 crimes who have run for Congress this year as Republicans, three of whom have lost primaries so far.

Hand campaigned on rallying Black and white working-class voters under Trump’s banner to improve the economy. When asked for comment Tuesday, Hand responded by text: “To be continued ...”

Former Trump aide Brian Jack beat former state Senate Majority Leader Mike Dugan for the Republican nomination in the 3rd Congressional District.

Jack will be favored against Democrat Maura Keller in November to succeed Republican U.S. Rep Drew Ferguson, who is stepping down after four terms.

A 36-year-old Peachtree City native, Jack was endorsed by Trump after working in his campaign and administration. He later worked for then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Jack based his campaign on his alignment with the former president, and using his Washington connections to raise funds.

“The power of the Trump endorsement is alive and well,” Jack told the AP by phone “I would not be a Republican nominee were it not for President Trump’s endorsement, his repeated endorsements.”

Jack promised to campaign heavily through November, in part to try to drive up turnout for Trump, and he touted his experience and connections as a way accomplish goals in Congress, including extending tax cuts and cracking down on immigration.

“I think it provides me with a unique opportunity to be incredibly effective on Day 1 and be incredibly responsive to the constituents of my district,” Jack said.

Dugan contended that Jack’s Washington insider status was a liability, saying voters should instead prefer his Georgia values.

“While tonight didn't go the way we'd hoped, we're grateful for the support that brought us this far,” Dugan said in a statement. “We wish Brian Jack well.”

Jack won almost 47% of the vote in the May 21 primary and was first in 14 of 15 counties. Dugan got nearly 25% and carried his home county of Carroll. The third- and fourth-place finishers both endorsed Jack.

The 3rd District includes some of Atlanta’s southern and western suburbs, running south to Columbus, with Republicans typically winning about two-thirds of the vote.

In the Democratic contest to challenge Greene in the 14th District, Shawn Harris, a retired Army general and rancher, bested Clarence Blalock, a 2021 Atlanta City Council candidate. Blalock barely led Harris in the four-way primary. Harris faces an uphill fight in the strongly Republican district.

Nominees in eight state legislative seats were being settled in runoffs.

Republican incumbent Steven Sainz beat challenger Glenn Cook to hold on to his House District 180 seat in Camden and Glynn counties. Sainz will face Democrat Defonsio Daniels in November.

Military veteran and Democratic activist Kenya Wicks beat former state Rep. Valencia Stovall for the Democratic nomination in Senate District 34 in Clayton and Fayette counties after party organizations endorsed Wicks, citing Stovall's past support for school choice and other issues. Wicks will face Republican Andrew Honeycutt for the open seat.

FILE - Georgia Republican Mike Dugan speaks at the 3rd Congressional District debate sponsored by the Atlanta Press Club on Sunday, April 28, 2024, in Atlanta. Dugan is competing with fellow Republican Brian Jack in a Tuesday, June 18, 2024, runoff for the GOP nomination in the district south and west of Atlanta. (AP Photo/Jason Allen, File)

FILE - Georgia Republican Wayne Johnson speaks during a debate sponsored by the Atlanta Press Club with Republican Chuck Hand on Sunday, June 9, 2024, in Atlanta. Both candidates are competing in a Tuesday, June 18, 2024, runoff for the GOP nomination in southwest Georgia's 2nd Congressional District. (J. Glenn/Pool via AP, File)

FILE - Georgia Republican Brian Jack speaks at a campaign event in Newnan, Ga., on Monday, June 10, 2024. Jack is competing with fellow Republican Mike Dugan in a Tuesday, June 18, 2024, runoff for the GOP nomination in the 3rd Congressional District south and west of Atlanta. (AP Photo, Jeff Amy, File)

FILE - Georgia Republican Chuck Hand speaks to reporters on Sunday, June 9, 2024, in Atlanta, after walking out of a debate with fellow 2nd Congressional District candidate Wayne Johnson. Hand pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor offense for illegally demonstrating inside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. He's competing with Johnson for the GOP nomination in the southwest Georgia district in a Tuesday, June 18, 2024 runoff. (AP Photo/Jeff Amy, File)

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The decades-old conflict in Congo’s mineral-rich east has “drastically deteriorated” since early 2022, and gotten even worse since last October, with sharp increases in sexual violence, the number of wounded, and child recruitment, the top Red Cross official in the country said Wednesday.

Francois Moreillon called Congo a “double-edged crisis,” with the last 30 years of conflict weakening the capacity of government, including at local levels, to deliver basic services such as water, education and food. When it came to protecting civilians, Moreillon said the crisis was “extremely acute.”

Eastern Congo has struggled with armed violence as more than 120 groups fight for power, land and valuable mineral resources, while others try to defend their communities. Some armed groups have been accused of mass killings.

The head of the International Committee of the Red Cross, known as the ICRC, said “all indicators are going through the roof” since Oct. 1 when fighting resumed between Congolese government forces with their allies, and the M23 rebel group.

Congo’s President Felix Tshisekedi, along with the U.S. and U.N. experts, accuses neighboring Rwanda of giving military backing to M23. Rwanda denies the claim, but in February it effectively admitted that it has troops and missile systems in eastern Congo to safeguard its security, pointing to a build-up of Congolese forces near the border.

Moreillon told several reporters at the office of the ICRC's U.N. envoy that the number of displaced Congolese rose from 5.6 million in early 2022 to nearly 7.4 million now, which makes Congo “one of the most serious crises for displacement on the planet.”

He said another escalating indicator is the level of sexual violence. In Goma, the largest city in eastern Congo, he said the number of incidents of sexual violence in the first half of 2024 rose 90% compared with 2023 — from 7,500 incidents last year to around 15,000 this year.

Moreillon cited the case of a woman the ICRC cared for who had been raped twice and explained that women in groups went to fetch wood “taking condoms with them to try to convince the rapist to wear them while they were raped." This was not just to prevent getting pregnant or sexually transmitted diseases, but also to prevent them from being ordered to leave the house if their husbands learned they were raped, he said

Moreillon said sexual violence can not only be a weapon of war but also a product of decades of war where “anyone with a gun feels he can do whatever he wants” — and the fact that there is impunity for these crimes “does not help."

The ICRC has also witnessed an increase in child recruitment, with estimates that it's increased roughly 80% in some areas. “That could be only the tip of the iceberg,” he said.

A key reason is that fighting has gotten so intense that armed groups need new recruits to replace dead combatants, he said, and children can either be convinced or forced.

Several kids he interviewed said they joined because they thought they would get respect, he said. When families don’t give their children to armed groups they are “taxed” and then hand them over to the recruiters.

Another indicator is the number of wounded civilians seeking treatment, Moreillon said.

The ICRC supports three hospitals in eastern Congo including one in Goma where it had to increase the number of surgical teams from two last year to three this year who are working day and night, he said.

Last year, Moreillon said, 1,050 cases were treated at the Goma hospital, and just in February this year the ICRC treated 350 cases — a third of last year’s caseload in just one month.

“So that’s a clear indicator of the severity of the intensity of the conflict,” he said.

The ICRC head in Congo said what has changed is that more sophisticated weapons are being used combined with increased fighting in crowded urban settings.

He said 45% of those wounded by weapons are civilians, and about 40% of the wounds are caused by shrapnel which wasn’t the case last year when most wounds were caused either by bullets or knives.

What about deaths? Moreillon said it’s very difficult to get figures, but if the number of wounded “is drastically increasing” this must also be the case for the number killed.

Moreillon appealed to donors to help the Congolese in need, saying his budget for Congo this year — 85 million Swiss francs ($95 million) — is only 22% funded.

FILE -Thousands who are fleeing the ongoing conflict between government forces and M-23 rebels reach the entrance the Democratic Republic of Congo eastern city of Goma, Feb. 7, 2024. The decades-old conflict in Congo’s mineral-rich east has “drastically deteriorated” since early 2022 and gotten even worse since last October, with sharp increases in sexual violence, the number of wounded and child recruitment, the top Red Cross official in the country said Wednesday. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa, File)