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Belleville man killed in Virginia shootout 'seemed like a normal guy, a regular guy' Belleville News-Democrat He was a Democrat, and I was a Republican, so we didn't have too much to talk about. Another of Hodgkinson's neighbors, Fred Widel, said Hodgkinson told him he was planning to retire soon. He asked Widel if he wanted to buy his tools, and Widel said ... Neighbor says he rarely talked to James Hodgkinson: 'He was a Democrat, and I was a Republican'Chicago Tribune Belleville, IL Congressional gunman letters to the editor | Belleville News-DemocratBelleville News-Democrat Shooter identified by law enforcement officials as James T. HodgkinsonWashington Post Washington Post all 1,435 news articles »

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Belleville man killed in Virginia shootout 'seemed like a normal guy, a regular guy' - Belleville News-Democrat

James T. Hodgkinson, the man who shot up a congressional baseball practice Wednesday morning, was allegedly a strong Democratic partisan who was outraged over the election of Donald Trump.

The Belleville News-Democrat, the paper in Hodgkinson's home town of Belleville, Illinois, interviewed a few of Hodgkinson's neighbors. One of the neighbors offered up a quote that speaks volumes about political culture in the United States.

"I didn't really talk to him too much," said neighbor Aaron Meurer. "He was a Democrat, and I was a Republican, so we didn't have too much to talk about."

In one sentence, Meurer offers up a snapshot of American partisanship: For many Americans, their political affiliation is a central component of their identity. Meurer's statement suggests that he and Hodgkinson saw themselves as partisans first and neighbors second.

This isn't to pick on Meurer - this sort of worldview is widespread and becoming more common in the United States. Recent data from the Pew Research Center speaks to the phenomenon directly. More than 4 in 10 Democrats and Republicans told Pew it would be easier to get along with a new neighbor if they were members of the same political party.

Conversely, 27 percent of Democrats and 31 percent of Republicans said it would be harder to get along with a new neighbor of the opposite party. In both parties, people who were highly engaged with politics were more likely to hold this view.

This intraparty antipathy is rising rapidly. In 1994, according to Pew, 21 percent of Republicans, and 17 percent of Democrats, rated the other party as "very unfavorable." By 2016 those numbers had shot up to 58 percent and 55 percent, respectively.

But "very unfavorable" is just the tip of the partisan iceberg. Fully 45 percent of Republicans, and 41 percent of Democrats, view the other party as "a threat to the nation's well-being." Those numbers rose significantly between 2014 and 2016.

This level of hostility is stunning. You can see how a certain type of person could get from a belief that the other party is a threat to the country, to a belief that it's up to them to do something about it - even something extreme. This viewpoint was explicitly articulated by Hodgkinson in a Facebook post in which he wrote, "Trump is a Traitor. Trump Has Destroyed Our Democracy. It's Time to Destroy Trump & Co."

Several decades ago, the polling suggests that for most Americans, their political party was part of who they were but not necessarily a core part of their personal identity, as it is for many people today.

Christy Gutowski, David Heinzmann and Jeff Coen

One line of questioning illustrates that shift starkly: In 1960, roughly 5 percent of Democrats and Republicans told pollsters that they would be upset if their child married someone from a different political party. By 2010, those proportions stood at nearly 50 percent for Republicans and more than 30 percent for Democrats.

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Neighbor says he rarely talked to James Hodgkinson: 'He was a Democrat, and I was a Republican' - Chicago Tribune

Momentum by Democrat Jon Ossoff in his bid for Georgias 6th congressional district has led some party members to believe Democrats can take the House of Representatives seat in the 7th congressional district. This district contains parts of Forsyth and Gwinnet Counties,and islocated northeast of Atlanta.

Democrat David Kim announced on June 7 that he would be running against Rob Woodall, the incumbent representative of Georgias 7th district, for the 2018 House seat district primary. An Asian-American Harvard University graduate, Kim is known primarily as the CEO and founder ofC2 Education, an exam-prep and personal tutoring program with over 180 centers across the nation.

David Kim (Photo/Courtesy David Kim campaign website)

Kims campaign announcement follows a recent statement by The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in a document titled Charging Forward, DCCC Announces Battlefield Expansion, issued on May 22. This document lists district 7 as one of the targeted districts for potential investment and recruitment.

According toGaPundit, Kim expressed that he feels Georgia voters want a candidate who is less partisan, stating that Woodall has been more interested in partisan purity than getting things done for the people.

In afundraising email sent to his supporters, Kim expressed that he wants to be a voice thats independent minded and focused on important long-term decisions.

Woodall has been serving since he was elected in 2011,and is on the House Budget Committee, House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the House Committee, according to theGeorgia Secretary of State. The Republican representative defended his House seat in May 2016, defeating Democrat Rashid Malik by nearly 60,000 votes in the 7th congressional district election.

Rob Woodall (Photo/Courtesy Rob Woodall campaign website)

Were David Kim to take the congressional seat in the 7th district this would be the first time that a Democrat hasheld that position in over 20 years.

According to coverage from the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Woodall said that the layout of the 7th district, and the fact that it contains a large part of conservative Forsyth County, has helped protect him in previous years from electoral pressure.

Kim will not run unopposed in his bid for the 2018 House seat, and will face fellow Democrat Kathleen Allen.

Kathleen Allen (Photo/Courtesy Kathleen Allen campaign website)

On her campaign website Allen highlights her 20+ years of experience in both not-for-profit and for-profit healthcare organizations as the driving force behind her desire to balance the health and well-being of Americans with our nations financial interests.

In recent years Allen has served as the CEO and Founder of Paid in America, INC., a nonprofit that helps promote establishments that pay their employees a living wage. Allen is slated to formally start her campaign in Norcross on June 22.

Elections for the GA House of Representatives seat will begin on November 6, 2018.

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Democrat David Kim joins race for GA's 7th congressional district - Red and Black

ANALYSIS/OPINION:

Never let a crisis go to waste, as the lefts loud Chicago mayor, Rahm Emanuel, always used to say.

So like a good tool, Terry McAuliffe, Virginias Democratic governor, listened. He took a time out from his well wishes for the victims of the Alexandria shooting attack on Republicans playing ball to say this: There are too many guns on the street. We lose 93 million Americans a day to gun violence.

He meant 93 and upon correction, amended the figure, But potatoes, potahtoes. Nothing like a good shooting to get the Democrats all fired up for gun control, right?

But really, at this juncture in American politics and culture, its not gun control we need.

Its Democrat control.

If nothing else, this horrific ballpark shooting, done at the hands of James T. Hodgkinson, a 66-year-old Illinois man with an anti-Trump Facebook page that touted his love for all-things-socialism, shows just how dangerous the Democratic all-courts-press for political wins has become.

And the GOP needs to grasp the realities of the situation, but fast.

But theyre not.

Rep. Tim Scott, a Republican from South Carolina, delivered a terrific response to the shooting of House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, two police officers and a congressional aide, telling a Fox News audience that whats called for is faith that God and the countrys Judeo-Christian founding principles can and will unite, can and will prevail over partisan bickering and a fiery political atmosphere.

On that, Scotts quite right. Yes, in the end, in the spiritually-speaking end, that is, God does indeed win. Satan loses. Sanity succeeds. Law, order and justice rule; chaos, mayhem and hatred fall to the side.

However, thats the biblical end the end of all ends. In the meantime, theres a reality that cant be ignored, a more fleshly world that must be recognized, a political atmosphere that cant be calmed by simple calls for peace and unity.

Rep. Rodney Davis from Illinois, touched on this nerve on Fox News, saying to host Bill Hemmer, shortly after the shooting: This political rhetoric, this political rhetoric and political discourse that has led to hate, has led to gunfire. I never thought Id go to baseball practice for charity and have to dodge bullets. This has got to stop and its got to stop today.

He was describing the scene that unfolded before his eyes at the baseball park the plights of the innocent children on the field, the innocent park-goers, the innocent congressional members and staffers and choking at the bloodshed that wouldve come had two armed Capitol Police officers not been on site with Scalise.

But he shied from pointing fingers of blame. Like Scott, he failed to recognize the root.

Davis stopped short of placing responsibility for the shooting in any particular direction, saying instead he didnt want to assess who takes responsibility because we all are responsible for the discourse that happens in American government.

Thats a nice sentiment. One that belongs in the same Hall of Higher Principles with Scotts.

But the fact is, there is blame that can be affixed here. There is one political party more than another thats comfortable using violence as a form of acceptable political protest. And violence, thy name is Democratic.

Witness: The many, many street protests against President Donald Trump, both pre- and post-inauguration, that have led to burned cars, smashed storefront windows, attacks on police and civilians, injuries and arrests.

Witness: The college campus protests against certain speakers against planned conservative speakers that have led to burned cars, destroyed properties, attacks on innocents, injuries and arrests.

Witness: The Black Lives Matter movement, its vicious railings, its targeted attacks on white police, as retribution and revenge for perceived targeted police attacks on members of the black community and the fact that members of this violent upstart actually had sit-down, stamp-of-approval invites to the Barack Obama White House.

The common denominator? These are all leftist-led upheavals and campaigns. These are all Democratic-progressive-socialist-anarchist fueled protests, gatherings, get-togethers.

These are all movements that involve leftists possessed of intense hatred for all-things-Trump, all-things-conservative.

And theyre spreading their hate-filled messages everywhere. One week its on the streets of Portland, Oregon, where anti-Trump protesters at a free speech rally clash with police; next week, its in the driveway of a Tennessee home, where an unhappy constituent chases down a Republican lawmaker; another week, its in the online pages of the Huffington Post, where a writer seriously calls for the left to follow Republicans to their homes, their restaurants, their places of work to protest, protest, protest; yet one more week, its in the world of comedy, where Kathy Griffin finds laughs for holding a bloodied fake head of Trump.

Its in the subtle and not-so-subtle messaging of the Democratic National Committees Resistance Summer goals and the outgoing California DNC chairs unhinged fTrump! scream before an audience of hundreds that included a smiling House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.

Its Not the Republicans.

Its the Democrats the Left.

So, listen up, Republicans. Unity is good. Peace is even better. And living out a godly, biblical life, both on Capitol Hill and in the privacy of home, that convicts of the need to reach out and connect with those of differing views is most definitely the way to go. But lets face facts here.

Hodgkinsons Facebook posts included this little nugget: Trump is a Traitor. Trump Has Destroyed Our Democracy. Its Time to Destroy Trump & Co.

On top of that, he apparently asked a lawmaker leaving the ballpark if the remaining congressional members were Republican or Democrat and three minutes later, coincidentally, the shooting began.

The shooting comes amid a wave of anti-Trump, anti-Republican Democratic-sponsored resistance rhetoric and activities.

This is not coincidental.

This is not a problem of the Second Amendment or of security failures.

The timing of this shooting means something. It says something about our culture, our moral compass, our political realities. Its indicative of something deeper, darker. Put together all these somethings and whats left is the need for Democrats, party of the angry, to step up, step forward and get their messaging and political protesting under control. And they need to do it quickly, before any more innocent Americans get hurt.

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We don't need gun control we need Democrat control - Washington Times

An internationally known stem cell scientist and entrepreneur will join the ranks of candidates trying to unseat Republican incumbents in contested House races next year when he announces Thursday his challenge of 18-term Rep. Dana Rohrabacher.

Hans Keirstead, a 50-year-old Democrat from Laguna Beach, said Wednesday that he will run in the 48th Congressional District, one of more than half a dozen in California that have been targeted by Democrats seeking to harness sentiment against President Trump in their fight for a House majority.

Keirsteads candidacy has been sought by some national Democratic figures, who see his science and business background as a good fit for the district. It runs along the Orange County coastline from Laguna Beach to Seal Beach, and includes some nearby inland cities.

Republicans represent a plurality of the district with more than 40% of its registration, to about 30% for Democrats. A quarter of voters are registered as nonpartisan. The Huntington Beach-based Rohrabacher, who is 69, has served in the House since 1988.

Part of the reason for the Democratic drought in the 48th and other districts now seen as competitive has been the partys candidates; Rohrabacher last faced a serious challenge in 2008, when he won by 10 percentage points. In November, he won by more than 16 points. Hillary Clinton won the district by almost 2 points en route to becoming the first Democratic presidential nominee to win Orange County since 1936.

Several other candidates already have announced their intention to run against the veteran House member.

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Nationally and in California, Democrats say they have been swamped by candidates interested in running for office to oppose Trump and Republican majorities in the House and Senate. Keirstead said that is one of his motivations.

Ive come to realize more acutely than ever before the deficits in Congress and how my profile can actually benefit Congress, he said. Id like to do what Im doing but on a larger stage and I think Congress provides that, provides a forum for doing the greater good.

Keirstead was a pioneer in stem cell research, first in his native Canada and, since 2000, in Southern California. He helped lead UC Irvines stem cell research program and, in his only political endeavor, served as an advisor to a successful 2004 state measure, Proposition 71, that sought to steer $3 billion into medical research.

He also has started and sold several medical research companies that have invented therapies for ovarian, skin and brain cancer, as well as spinal cord injuries, rheumatoid arthritis and ulcerative colitis.

Keirstead has made millions of dollars off of his business endeavors but said he will not use his own money for his campaign.

Although his background gives him a network of allies to help raise money, Keirstead is likely to face criticism for leaping into politics mid-ladder, without the relationship-building that usually precedes a first run.

He became a citizen in 2008, he said. County voting records show he cast ballots in general elections that year and in 2010, 2012 and 2016. The records indicate that he did not cast any ballots in the 2014 midterm elections, and he has not voted in primary elections.

Asked about the missing votes, Keirstead said he had other commitments and responsibilities but stressed that the result of last falls elections show how important it is to participate in our democracy.

Campaign finance records show he has not donated to federal or state candidates.

In an interview, Keirstead suggested he is still studying policy positions. He said that he would prefer to improve the Obamacare insurance program rather than adopt a universal healthcare plan favored by some liberal Democrats.

I think Obamacare put in place a very large system that is fantastic in some measures and very flawed in others, he said. Theres a lot we can do with the existing system rather than cripple it first as the Trump administration is doing in order to justify a replacement.

On trade, another issue that has divided Democrats, he declined to take a position on the North American Free Trade Agreement, which Trump and some Democrats favor dumping. He also would not say whether he favored Clinton or Sen. Bernie Sanders last year.

I just dont really like the labels, he said. Im trying to run as authentic Hans. I am personally tired of partisan politics where the labels are driving the decision making. I think we should be more results driven.

But he was happy to criticize Rohrabacher for his advocacy of friendlier relations with Russia and for voting for the House Republican healthcare plan. And he also defended, with a laugh, his unorthodox path to politics.

I can tell you without a doubt my cancer treatment, my spinal cord injury treatment, would never have been invented had I followed a step-by-step straight path in academia and business, for sure, he said. Doing things differently has been responsible for my success. And its actually encouraged me to take on bigger initiatives like running for Congress.

cathleen.decker@latimes.com

Twitter: @cathleendecker

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Stem cell scientist to become the latest Democrat trying to topple Dana Rohrabacher in OC House race - Los Angeles Times