Keith Higgins wins the Republican District Attorney race for the Brunswick Judicial Circuit with 100 % of precincts reporting.
The incumbent Higgins won with 11,842 votes to his challenger, John Johnson’s 6,445 votes.
No Democratic candidate filed for the ballot, meaning Higgins will run unopposed in November. This will officially seat Higgins as the District Attorney for the next four years.
Higgins served as a prosecutor in the District Attorney’s Office for the Brunswick Judicial Circuit for over 20 years before leaving to lead his own private practice for 10 years before running for DA. The circuit’s five counties are Appling, Camden, Glynn, Jeff Davis and Wayne.
Higgins, who was first elected in 2020, defeated then-incumbent District Attorney Jackie Johnson by over 12,000 votes — a community response to the DA’s handling of the murder case of Ahmad Arbery. Johnson has since been accused of helping the McMichaels attempt to avoid arrest. She is facing charges of obstruction and violating her oath of office.
Echoing his hard-on-crime platform, Higgins has boasted 3,500 convictions and a 99% conviction rate. His political website highlights that he has not had cases overturned for ethical violations and spent no taxpayer money on wrongful convictions. His challenger John Johnson’s (unrelated to the former DA) wrongful conviction of Dennis Perry has cost the county more than $1.23 million.
Johnson joined the office in 1977 and served as Assistant District Attorney for three DA’s leading the five-county circuit. Throughout his nearly five decade career, he has tried over 400 criminal cases, more than 12 death penalty cases and more than 50 murder cases in the Brunswick Circuit counties. After Higgins was elected as DA in 2021, Johnson began prosecuting misdemeanors in Glynn County State Court.
An investigation by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution revealed that Johnson regularly withheld evidence from the defense to secure prosecutions.