MACON, Ga. — Editors note: The video in this article is from previous coverage of Johnson's lawsuit
Barely two weeks after a federal court rejected his lawsuit over the 2022 election, Wayne Johnson is running again.
Johnson, a Macon businessman and a Republican, announced Wednesday he’s challenging U.S. Sanford Bishop in the 2nd Congressional District.
He ran for the same seat two years ago. Johnson finished third in a six-person Republican primary with 18.7% of the vote.
This led to his lawsuit accusing fellow Republican Jeremy Hunt, Fox News and one of their hosts of racketeering and wire fraud.
His suit says Fox host Brian Kilmeade booked Hunt for 12 guest appearances on Fox as a defense and security expert. Johnson argued that they conspired to skew the Second District Republican primary against him. The lawsuit says the Fox appearances gave Hunt votes and campaign donations that should have gone to Johnson.
A Columbus-based federal judge threw out Johnson’s lawsuit last year. He called Johnson’s arguments “not plausible” and parts of his suit “preposterous.”
“Plaintiff’s attempt to convert a grievance about unequal airtime on Fox News into unlawful racketeering is unpersuasive,” Judge Clay Land wrote.
The judge wrote that Johnson failed to prove Hunt and Fox conspired against him or if they did, that they affected the outcome.
“Quite frankly, from the election results, it appears that Plaintiff Johnson would have lost the primary election campaign anyway,” Land wrote.
Johnson appealed Land’s decision and, on Feb. 7, the Eleventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals upheld the Columbus judge.
On Wednesday, Johnson said he’ll file papers next week to run again. As in 2022, his slogan is “Stop the Stupid in Washington.”
Johnson is a Mercer University graduate and worked in the U.S. Department of Education under President Trump. He calls himself a former bank and business owner, an Army veteran and a “lifelong conservative for decades.” He says he’s worked in cattle and tree farming.
He also ran in the 2020 general election for U.S. Senate, finishing 12th with 0.7% of the vote.
The 2nd Congressional District includes Crawford, Macon, Peach, Dooly and Taylor counties, most of Bibb County and the northern tip of Houston County. Bishop has held the seat since 1993.
You can read his full campaign announcement below: