Attorney Page Pate was interviewed by CNN about the recent election for the District Attorney position in the Brunswick Judicial Circuit in Southeastern Georgia. Page is a criminal defense attorney who is local to the area, and he is familiar with the campaigns of the incumbent District Attorney, Jackie Johnson, and her opponent, Keith Huggins.
Ms. Johnson has been under scrutiny for some time due to her involvement in the Ahmaud Arbery case, as well as several other controversial cases in the past. Page commented to CNN that “”It took not just one scandal, not even two scandals, but several scandals and then something as huge as the Ahmaud Arbery case to actually force a change in that office.”
It was unusual that someone would run against an incumbent District Attorney, but Keith Huggins decided to challenge Ms. Johnson in the recent election. Mr. Huggins won the election overwhelmingly, receiving two-thirds of the vote. Page believes that this is because “He talked to everybody…he talked to the minority community. He talked to people in the smaller counties who had not been really listened to in the past. And he reached out to Republicans, Democrats, independents.” On the other hand, Page says “Johnson took a much different tack, emblazoning “Vote Republican” on her campaign signs.”
Page says that he is optimistic that Mr. Huggins will deliver the kind of change he has promised when he takes office in 2021.
