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Democratic and Republican candidates for statewide office in Pennsylvania garner nearly all the attention, especially this year, but there are minor-party candidates angling for those seats, too.

The Libertarian, Green and Keystone parties have candidates on the general election ballot for U.S. Senate, governor and lieutenant governor.

If the Keystone Party doesnt sound familiar, dont feel bad.

The party just had its first convention on a small farm in York County in April after some members became disenchanted and left the Libertarian Party because they felt it was tilting too far right, particularly on social issues.

Gus Tatlas, the chairman of the Keystone Party of Pennsylvania, said members consider themselves a coalition of independents. The former Libertarians, he said, did not like hateful rhetoric coming from some Libertarian leaders.

In good conscience, they said they could no longer be affiliated with an organization that doesnt renounce that type of rhetoric, Tatlas said.

So far, Tatlas said the Keystone Party is getting a lot of great feedback and quickly managed to gather enough signatures to field statewide candidates.

Keystones website lists its party platform as government reform, including a part-time Legislature and term limits, an independent redistricting commission, open primaries, ranked choice voting, and school choice.

First, lets take a look at the candidates for U.S. Senate.

Libertarian

Erik Gerhardt, a Montgomery County resident who owns a carpentry business, is the Libertarian candidate for the open seat left by the retirement of Republican Sen. Pat Toomey.

On his campaign website, Gerhardt details a platform focused on jobs and the economy, social injustice, police reform, and ending the war on drugs.

Gerhardt, who sports a Philadelphia Phillies cap in his photo on the website, says, Most taxes are nothing short of theft. He supports cutting taxes to their absolute minimum, implementing a flat tax on sales and eliminating property taxes, though thats a state, not a federal, tax.

With fewer taxes, more of the money you work for will stay in your pocket, Gerhardt says.

Gerhardt agrees that police reform is needed, but opposes defunding the police, saying it hurts communities.

Instead, he said reform should begin with police recruits training, such as teaching them jujitsu to subdue suspects and avoid deadly force, and completing community service before graduating from the academy.

Gerhardt says he wants to end the war on drugs, beginning with decriminalizing marijuana, which Democratic Senate candidate John Fetterman, the states lieutenant governor, also supports.

However, Gerhardt also backs legalizing many other non-addictive drugs, and insisted decriminalization would also stop smuggling across the countrys southern border.

Green Party

Allegheny County resident Richard Weiss, an attorney, is the Green Party candidate for Senate. He ran for attorney general in 2020.

Weiss recently released a statement outlining a platform aimed at ending fracking, passing universal health care, pursuing peaceful resolutions in Ukraine and in other global conflicts, protecting abortion rights, legalizing marijuana and implementing police reform.

Fracking is ruining the water and health of Pennsylvania, Weiss said of the process to extract natural gas.

Weiss supports a just transition to renewable energy, which, he said, offers more jobs than the fossil fuel industry, protection for the environment and cheaper energy for consumers.

Universal healthcare is vital to help Americans as COVID-19 continues and victims experience prolonged medical problems.

Current health insurance has too many deductibles, co-pays and limitations on coverage, Weiss said. Employers who provide healthcare will benefit from Medicare-for-All by having costs reduced. Employers who do not provide healthcare will benefit from Medicare-for-All by having healthier workers. Medicare-for-All costs less for better care.

Keystone Party

Keystone candidate Daniel Wassmer is a Pike County resident who ran for attorney general in 2020 under the Libertarian banner. Wassmer finished third in that race just ahead of Weiss.

According to Ballotpedia.com, Wassmer said in 2020 that he worked as an adjunct professor, attorney and business owner.

Now, lets meet the minor party candidates running for governor and lieutenant governor.

Libertarian

Matt Hackenburg of Northampton County is the Libertarian candidate for governor. He described himself as a computer engineer and former National Guardsman in his Twitter account bio.

Hackenburgs issues on his website include repealing all gun control laws, allowing parents to decide how to educate their children, ending the theft of taxation and opposing the action of the Wolf administration during the height of the COVID pandemic.

Timothy McMaster of York County is the Libertarian candidate for lieutenant governor. An auditor, McMaster ran unsuccessfully in a special election for the 48th Senatorial District seat last year.

Keystone Party

Keystone gubernatorial candidate Joseph Soloski of Centre County ran for state treasurer in 2020 as a Libertarian. He is a certified public accountant and owned his own firm near Pittsburgh for 30 years before moving to Centre County in 2013.

Soloskis lieutenant governor running mate is Nicole Shultz of York County. She and her husband own a small business selling jams and other items.

Green Party

Christine PK DiGiulio of Chester County is the Green candidate for governor. She is a former analytical chemist for the U.S. Department of Defense and co-founded the Watchdogs of South-Eastern Pennsylvania and the Better Path Coalition.

DiGiulio opposes the Mariner East pipeline and the fossil fuel industry and supports abortion rights.

Earlier this year, DiGiulio told cityandstatepa.com, Its time to focus on the people 100 percent. We need basic human rights. There are people without clean water in 2022 in Pennsylvania. Thats pretty pathetic.

In an interview with The Daily Local of West Chester in April, DiGiulio said abortion access is part of womens general healthcare and made the case that the country should move away from fossil fuels.

Michael Bagdes-Canning, a Butler County resident, is the Green candidate for lieutenant governor. A teacher, Bagdes-Canning has served as vice president of the Pennsylvania State Education Association and was a founding member of the Better Path Coalition.

Our economy is set up to keep us fighting against each other rather than for each other, he said in a Labor Day statement. The same forces keeping us as wage slaves are also destroying the very climate we depend on for survival, pitting us against each other, using race, gender, immigration status, and our ZIP codes to divide us. When we in the working class unite, that will all change.

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Major party candidates get the attention, but Pa. voters have third party options, too - Williamsport Sun-Gazette

Republican U.S. Rep. Andy Harris abruptly switched gears Wednesday, pulling out of an October debate with Democratic challenger Heather Mizeur over his insistence that the Libertarian Party candidate be included.

The campaign of Harris, a conservative seeking a seventh term in the 1st Congressional District, had released a statement earlier in the day to The Baltimore Sun, saying he wont pull out if a third-party candidate cant attend, but he will nonetheless insist on them being invited to debates.

But Harris withdrew from the debate in an afternoon text from campaign official Walter Smoloski to Doug Donley, executive director of Cecil Public Media, also known as Cecil TV, host of the event.

Based on the decision to disinvite the Libertarian candidate for the debate, Congressman Harris will be pulling out, the text said, according to Donley. If you guys change your mind, please let us know. Thank you.

Harris and Mizeur had agreed to participate, Donley said Monday. However, Harris had followed up with a request to include Libertarian Daniel Thibeault. Donley said he initially reached out to Thibeault to include him, but ultimately decided against it because he isnt raising money or actively campaigning.

Heather Mizeur and Andy Harris are running in the 1st Congressional District. (Kenneth K. Lam & Amy Davis/Baltimore Sun)

By the end of the day Wednesday, Harris issued a news release saying: I have always insisted all candidates for the First Congressional District be invited to any debates, and I stand by that policy. Thats the way democracy works.

The debate was scheduled for Oct. 26 at Cecil College and was to be streamed on the Cecil TV website.

Mizeur accused Harris of trying to duck the debate.

If I had Andy Harris record, I wouldnt want to face the voters either, she said in a written statement. We already knew Harris was a traitor who plotted to overturn a free and fair election. Now its clear hes also a coward.

No other debates have been scheduled in the contest pitting Harris, 65, who is loyal to Republican former President Donald Trump against Mizeur, 49, a former state delegate and 2014 gubernatorial candidate who has been endorsed by national progressive groups.

The district covers the Eastern Shore, Harford County and a piece of Baltimore County.

Rep. Andy Harris at a news conference. (Amy Davis / Baltimore Sun)

Harris said in Wednesdays statement that he is excited to share the stage with the other invited candidates at an unspecified League of Women Voters forum. His campaign headlined the release: Harris Agrees to Debate in First District Race. It said details will be released to the media when available.

Mike Cross-Barnet, Mizeurs spokesman, said there is no date or location established for that forum.

Thibeault, 30, is a former truck driver who lives in Elkton and is working as a security guard while studying engineering at Cecil College.

Donley said he originally sought to accommodate Harris request by informally inviting Thibeault on Tuesday to join the debate. The invitation was withdrawn the same day, Donley said, because it was decided upon further review that Thibeault wasnt eligible.

He has no social media, spending or financial support, Donley said.

Thibeault said in an interview that he had hoped to participate. He acknowledged that his job and studies leaves him little time to campaign. He is not required to file finance reports with the Federal Election Commission because he hasnt raised or spent at least $5,000.

In 2018, Libertarian Party candidate Jenica Martin appeared with Harris and Democratic candidate Jesse Colvin in a Cecil TV debate.

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Keep up to date with Maryland politics, elections and important decisions made by federal, state and local government officials.

I believe she ran more of a campaign, Donley said of Martin. He [Thibeault] is running what I would call a passive campaign.

Heather Mizeur, the Democratic Party challenger to incumbent Andy Harris (R), meets July 28, 2022, with potential voters at the Cecil County Fair. (Kenneth K. Lam/Baltimore Sun)

Harris was reelected handily in 2018 and 2020. Cecil TV didnt stage a debate in 2020 because of health concerns related to the coronavirus.

Mizeur (pronounced miz-EER) says she got into the 2022 race because of the actions of Harris. She was living with her wife, Deborah, on their Kent County herb and chicken farm, when she heard Harris was among 147 lawmakers who opposed formal certification of President Joe Bidens Electoral College win as Congress met on Jan. 6, 2021.

She has called Harris positions extreme and out of touch.

While Republicans have a voter registration advantage in the district, Mizeur is hoping for a sizable turnout of abortion rights supporters motivated by the U.S. Supreme Courts June ruling effectively overturning the Roe v. Wade decision that had protected a right to an abortion under the U.S. Constitution.

Harris campaign website and Twitter page barely mention Mizeur, focusing much more on inflation and his opposition to Bidens policies.

Harris said in a July statement that he is emphasizing bringing down the price of gas and groceries and securing our communities against violent crime.

Excerpt from:
Republican Rep. Andy Harris pulls out of debate with Democrat Heather Mizeur after insisting organizers include third candidate - Baltimore Sun

By Thomas Warren III, Editor-in-Chief

A few days ago, a man who I greatly respect, former Republican congressional candidate Chris Ekstrom, posted something about politicians that really rang true for me. The post was directed at the politicians who claim they are conservatives when election time rolls around, but who fail to actually advocate for those principles they ran on in the first place.

Self-described Conservative politicians are mostly useless wussies, Ekstroms post read.

As unfortunate as the statement is, it is in large part true. This is not to say anything of the true conservative leaders who actually have stood their ground on their principles despite the political odds. When thinking of this description, I think of people like Sen. Rand Paul and Rep. Ron Paul, two men who I greatly admire for their work in the Senate and House. Instead, this statement is directed at those politicians who put the word conservative on their yard signs, bumper stickers, and billboards, but then fail to do anything actually conservative once they are in office. For this example, think about men like Sen. Kel Seliger (R-Amarillo), who thankfully is finally leaving the Texas Senate after local voters picked a true conservative as his replacement in Kevin Sparks.

With that being said, I have found that it seems that Republican voters are often hot under the collar at these types of phony conservative politicians during the persons term, but then they refuse to actually hold them accountable when its election time. People will complain and moan on Facebook, but when its time to actually hold those people accountable at the ballot box, voters often just give those spineless weasels a free pass.

Why is this the way it is? Well, for starters, it might just be apathy, or name recognition, or some combination of both. Why make a change when change is scary and you can just vote for the name you know, even if they are a spineless coward? However, another option that is perhaps more frighteningly accurate is that these terrible politicians with horrible records get assisted by political organizations more interested in promoting a certain agenda or protecting the status quo, than in actually accomplishing anything for the voters in the area.

Perhaps the best example of this type of group that Amarillo voters are likely familiar with is Amarillo Matters PAC. Amarillo Matters PAC has made a name for itself promoting establishment politicians aimed at promoting continuing progress, while handing the bill to the taxpayers. Candidates backed by Amarillo Matters dont really care if the taxpayers are footing the bill, as long as the pet projects get completed, and the wasteful spending keeps on going. This group is all about promoting the status quo.

While I have spoken often about Amarillo Matters PAC and its troubling involvement in Amarillo elections, there is a new group that has shown up in our community that, while less organized, still poses a threat in its ability to confuse voters due to its generic name, while harboring policy positions that go completely against the values it espouses to hold.

This new group calls itself Conservatives of Texas and is based out of West Texas. The group is apparently led by Alex Deanda, a Republican precinct chairman from Randall County, whose political beliefs are often shot from the hip and fluctuate depending on what election is taking place and which candidates the group is supporting.

The Deanda-led group has been meddling in Amarillo elections for a couple of years now, backing candidates funded by Obama-era Democrats, and supporting candidates who have handed out cushy tax breaks to out-of-area corporations, meddling in the free market.

While those positions are bad, this groups newest involvement in a local election is what is perhaps most troubling about this organization and should lead voters to ask serious questions about the true agenda this groups organizers are pushing.

Deanda has recently been pushing hard on social media for Potter County Judge Nancy Tanner using official Conservatives of Texas channels. Tanner has a write-in opponent in November, who has been endorsed by Potter County Republican Chairman Dan Rogers, the Potter County Republican Executive Committee itself, and numerous local conservative leaders and organizations.

According to the recent rhetoric from Deanda, Tanner won her primary election in March against Ed Heath, so that means voters should just let her win in November unopposed. Now that Tanner has an opponent in November who is being backed by the Potter County Republican Party, local Republican Party leaders, and now that she was recently condemned by a party resolution for opposing election integrity efforts, Deanda and his group are coming to Tanners aid, defending her awful record.

Remember, this is the same county judge who has pushed gun control and gun bans on Potter County properties, issued millions of dollars in taxpayer-funded debt without voter approval, actively opposed election integrity efforts backed by the Republican Party and President Trump, and appointed Democrats to powerful local government positions. Yet, somehow, her positions are conservative enough for an organization calling itself Conservatives of Texas.

Despite her awful record, Deanda is clinging to the rhetoric from Tanner and her supporters that she does not deserve a challenger in November. Even though her opponent is backed by local Republican leaders and the county party itself.

There is little online about what Conservatives of Texas actually stands for in terms of policy positions and values. Their website link listed on Facebook goes to a 404 error page, and their about section on Facebook simply reads as follows:

Conservatives of Texas is a grassroots organization that strives to engage our communities across al.

Now, Im not sure who Al is, but if he is promoting the same type of anti-gun, high-tax policies promoted by Nancy Tanner, then I dont want Al or Conservatives of Texas speaking for this community.

The truth is despite the scant amounts of information online regarding what Conservatives of Texas stands for, we can learn a lot about the true beliefs of this group based on their past endorsements and the candidates they have promoted or defended on social media. And what their record signals is that this group is anti-gun, pro-tax, anti-election integrity, and supports Republicans who are in bed with Democrat politicians.

That, my friends, is extremely troubling.

I probably dont fit the mold of a good Republican, considering that I believe people like Greg Abbott deserve just as much criticism now as they did in 2020 for shutting our state down, even though they are the Republican nominee in a general election. I believe people like John Cornyn should be held accountable at election time for voting for gun control, even if he is a Republican candidate. And I believe a liberal county judge who wants to keep guns out of the hands of law-abiding citizens deserves to be held accountable at election time, even if she does have that little R next to her name.

If believing that Republican elected officials should be held accountable by voters and taxpayers, election time or not, makes me a bad Republican, then maybe I am one. But I am a principled conservative, and that is what matters. When the time comes to stack up our records next to one another, Ill be proud to say that unlike some so-called conservatives, I wasnt a wussy political windsock.

As someone who is actually a principled conservative, seeing a group use the name Conservatives of Texas, then defend and promote politicians who raise taxes, oppose gun rights, and play games against the free market really makes me mad. Those are not conservative principles, and we shouldnt act like they are just because the group promoting those positions hides behind a name that implies they are conservatives.

I co-founded a Young Conservatives of Texas chapter at West Texas A&M University, and I have led multiple conservative political organizations. My beliefs on what is conservative and what isnt has always closely aligned with statements by two leading conservative thinkers and leaders in American history.

First, William F. Buckley outlined what conservative meant in the first edition of National Review in 1955:

Among our convictions: It is the job of centralized government (in peacetime) to protect its citizens' lives, liberty and property. All other activities of government tend to diminish freedom and hamper progress. The growth of government (the dominant social feature of this century) must be fought relentlessly. In this great social conflict of the era, we are, without reservations, on the libertarian side. - William F. Buckley

Second, President Ronald Reagan similarly outlined the foundations of conservatism in a 1975 interview with Reason Magazine.

If you analyze it I believe the very heart and soul of conservatism is libertarianism. I think conservatism is really a misnomer just as liberalism is a misnomer for the liberalsif we were back in the days of the Revolution, so-called conservatives today would be the Liberals and the liberals would be the Tories. The basis of conservatism is a desire for less government interference or less centralized authority or more individual freedom and this is a pretty general description also of what libertarianism is. - Ronald Reagan

Did you notice the term that both Buckley and Reagan outlined there? The term is libertarian.

What is a libertarian? Libertarianism (small l libertarian), stands for individual freedom and opportunity. As outlined by David Boaz, author of The Libertarian Mind, in an article for Encyclopedia Britannica:

Libertarians are classical liberals who strongly emphasize the individual right to liberty. They contend that the scope and powers of government should be constrained so as to allow each individual as much freedom of action as is consistent with a like freedom for everyone else. Thus, they believe that individuals should be free to behave and to dispose of their property as they see fit, provided that their actions do not infringe on the equal freedom of others.

I agree with Reagan that the very foundations of what it means to be a conservative must be based on an understanding of libertarian thought emphasizing less government interference and more individual freedom. Those are the beliefs I hold and that is why I am a conservative.

In many ways, while the Republican Party is not perfectly conservative or perfectly libertarian in thought, it is the mainstream party that best advocates for conservative ideas. That can be seen out through policies in the Republican Party of Texas platform advocating strong support for the Second Amendment and gun rights, general opposition to new taxes and tax increases, and opposition to property tax abatements.

Meanwhile, organizations like Associated Republicans of Texas have continued to push politicians who oppose conservative viewpoints in the Republican Party of Texas platform that are rooted in the traditional conservative thinking of men like Ronald Reagan and William F. Buckley, despite having a named association with the Republican Party. That is bad, but now groups like Conservatives of Texas are taking it one step further, by promoting candidates actively opposed to conservative values like individual liberty and economic freedom while doing so under the self-proclamation of being conservatives.

In my mind, true conservatives do not support policies like banning guns, raising taxes, and handing out massive tax abatements that are paid for by Texas taxpayers. Along those same lines, true conservatives certainly dont advocate for politicians who hold those views, who can and will put those seemingly hypothetical positions into action, much like Tanner has done in Potter County. Nonetheless, the Conservatives of Texas and their leader, Deanda, continue to defend Tanner, despite her lack of conservative credentials and active opposition to conservative values. By doing so, this organization is showing its true colors.

If Deanda and his organization want to defend politicians who pass gun control rules and raise taxes to unprecedented levels in Potter County, that is fine, but they certainly shouldnt do so while calling themselves conservatives. For this group, perhaps the name Windsocks of Texas would be most appropriate, or maybe Sheep Herd of Texas, considering that for the candidates they support, they will bend over backwards to follow and defend whatever policies they promote, even if those positions run completely contrary to actual conservative values, as outlined by Reagan and Buckley.

The truth is just as Amarillo Matters PAC poses a threat to the integrity of Amarillo elections by backing pro-tax candidates with a massive war chest, so do groups like Conservatives of Texas who mislead voters into supporting candidates who promote gun control and tax increases, under the guise of being conservatives.

This is a real problem, but voters do not have to stand for this any longer. Voters can reject groups like Conservatives of Texas and their anti-gun, pro-tax agenda by voting against their candidates like Nancy Tanner in November. And in future elections, when Conservatives of Texas leaders like Alex Deanda place their names on the ballot again for leadership positions within the local Republican Party, voters who are truly conservative can vote against those individuals.

I am a true conservative, and Im sure many of you are, as well. We stand for gun rights, low taxes, personal freedom, and economic freedom. We believe in protecting the Constitution, defending the free market, and keeping government small and in-check.

If you believe those same things, then you must reject organizations like Conservatives of Texas and its dangerous rhetoric this November. Do not be conned into believing gun control, appointing Democrats to powerful government offices, or passing unprecedented debt issuances and tax increases are conservative positions. They are not, and the groups that push those positions and the candidates who support them, are not conservative.

Reject Conservatives of Texas in November. Vote against Nancy Tanner and ensure that yet another misleading special interest group does not con you out of your vote.

See the original post:
Editorial: True Conservatives Stand Against Gun Control The Amarillo Pioneer - The Amarillo Pioneer

Big-time libertarian pundit Ben Domenech got downright tetchy with National Conservatism scholar Yoram Hazony on a podcast this week over an issue that Domenech believes is settled and never to be unsettled. Hazony said that Domenechs rhetoric became downright violent.

At the prospect that many in the not-so-nascent national conservative movement believe gay marriage is still a salient issue, Domenech rather shouted at Hazony, I want you to understand this. We will beat you. We are beating you. We are destroying you in terms of the polling, like theres no basis for an anti-gay marriage conservative movement. It doesnt exist. I mean, its less that 25%. You are losing this argument. Youve lost the argument. I dont know why you want to go back and fight it.

Domenech was also shocked that the national conservatives would want to politically litigate that other supposedly settled issue, pornography. Such are the libertarians.

For those who dont know, Ben Domenech is the co-founder of the influential Federalist website, though I am not sure hes there any longer. He has a popular podcast. I think he has a radio show. And he has become a regular talking head on Fox News. You might say that Domenech is on the right wing of the sexual left.

His wife is Meghan McCain, the daughter of the late Senator John McCain. She held and then angrily left the conservative seat on the clucking hen-fest on ABC hosted by Whoopi Goldberg. They are pundit and policy royalty and host regular salons in their Virginia home where some of their guests and dear friends areegadshomosexual. It is appalling to Domenech that some of his houseguests marriages are not approved of by Yoram Hazony and other national conservatives. Indeed, they are not.

Justice Clarence Thomas rattled a lot of cages when he wrote in his Dobbs concurrence that gay marriage may quite possibly be up for legal discussion. Did Thomas really put gay marriage back on the agenda? The sexual left certainly thinks so. The right wing of the sexual left thinks so. They all went nuts. But for some of us, phony gay marriage was never off the agenda. Decisions of the Supreme Court may be settled law but, as we found out in the Dobbs decision, settled law can, through persistence and creativity, become rather unsettled.

Nine hundred mostly young national conservatives met this week in Miami for their third national conference. There have been conferences in Brussels, Budapest, and Rome. To demonstrate the political salience of this movement, consider that several presidential hopefuls spoke this year, including Josh Hawley, Marco Rubio, Rick Scott, and Ron DeSantis (who received sustained ovations as he bashed big tech, woke capital, and the trans movement).

Riley Moore, the State Treasurer of West Virginia, got a standing ovation for announcing that his state no longer allows BlackRock Capital access to its investment money. BlackRock Capital, the largest investment fund in the world, has gone full-on woke and imposes wokeness on companies they invest in. Whatever happened to the knee-jerk knee-bending and hat-tipping to big money and big corporations that used to come from the center right. All gone. The State Treasurer talked about being a pipefitter in his life before politics, and this got a huge round of applause. These are not only national conservatives; they are also populists with no taste for big corporations.

Besides regular bashing of the woke Left, many spoke passionately in favor of marriage and family and explicitly against not just the trans movement but the overall homosexual marriage ascendancy.

On his podcast, Domenech was puzzled and incensed at the response that homosexual pundit Dave Rubin got when he announced he and his husband were having two children. The response from national conservatives was immediate and negative. Rubin had been a speaker at last years conference. He spoke on a panel with Yoram Hazony, founder of the National Conservatism movement, and gay pundit Douglas Murray who, from the stage, oddly scolded anyone who cared what he did with his genitals.

Welcoming Dave Rubin across the political divide from Left to Right was something of a love fest, but that was tempered when Rubin announced his fatherhood. It seems that many in the movement look askance at homosexuals buying human eggs and using not one but two women as brood mares. Libertarian Domenech was appalled that we were appalled.

Domenech does disapprove of the trans movement. He thinks this ought to be common ground between the different stripes of conservatism and between gay conservatives and not-gay conservatives. Most of us believe this is a phony distinction.

At the conference this week, Joe Rigney, president of Bethlehem College, said repeatedly that any efforts to separate the T from the LGB must be rejected because both are inextricably linked in their essential rejection of human sexuality properly understood. Not only did he feel free to say this repeatedly, but the audience also felt free to cheer him every single time he said it. Mr. Domenech should consider that most of the audience were youngsters.

Can LGB leave its marriage with the T? Look at freak show Demetre Daskalakis, Joe Bidens new HIV prevention czar, and tell me what you think. Then take a look at the similarly freakish Sam Brinton, Bidens deputy assistant secretary of Spent Fuel and Waste Disposition in the Office of Nuclear Energy. Brinton tells the completely unbelievable story of experiencing so-called conversion therapy where he was hooked up to a car battery or some such nonsense. It is not just the Ts who are nutty.

Gay marriage is very much on the table. One speaker this week said you cannot be a conservative unless you are a social conservative. True. The new Heritage Foundation head, the impressive Kevin Roberts, said Heritage will take down the names of any Republican Senators who vote to codify gay marriage.

We know the battle for human sexuality properly understood will be long and sometimes lonely. The pro-life movement knew that, too, and we kept on going. There were Ben Domenech types who told us there was no way Roe would ever be overturned and we should just stop trying.

Turning back the sexual revolution is a herculean task. Not only is it on the table, but true conservatives are absolutely up to the job.

[Image Credit: Unsplash]

Read the rest here:
Is Gay Marriage Back on the Political Agenda? - Crisis Magazine

By GARRY RAYNO, InDepthNH.org

The state primary and Veto Day in the same week puts lots of things into perspective.

With Veto Day two days after the state primary election, a number of lawmakers attending Thursdays final session of the 2021-2022 term will not be back for many reasons, including being voted out in primary.

The Legislature is bound to be different for the next two years as no two legislatures are ever alike and the turnover after each election is about one-third of the 424 member General Court.

The primary election did have some interesting trends that may change things a bit.

An intramural as primaries are can be like family affairs, when they are healthy, there is nothing better, but when they are not, the can become real ugly.

And a couple of the Republican primaries were really ugly at the end and had to generate some bitter feelings which was manifested by the number of major office candidates who did not appear at the GOP Unity Breakfast Thursday morning before the Legislature met.

The most striking aspect of the primary is the hold former President Donald Trump still has on a good share of Republicans.

The three winning candidates for the three federal positions, retired Gen. Donald Bolduc for US Senate, former Trump aid Karoline Leavitt for the 1st Congressional District and early Trump supporter Robert Burns in the 2nd District all touted their support and ties to the former president and two were election deniers before the election Bolduc and Leavitt and he flip-flopped after the primary trying to move toward the center for the general election.

The winning candidates received about one-third of the votes cast election day on the GOP side. That is not to say only one-third of the Republican Party in New Hampshire supports Trump, because it is far higher than that, but that one-third is the foundational base of his support.

That means a couple of elections is not going to cleanse the Republican Party of Trumpism, it is here to stay for a while.

While the Democrats have the candidates the hierarchy wanted for those three races, as the adage goes be careful what you wish for.

Much can happen in the next two months beyond what is driving Democratic turnout today, the overturning of Roe vs. Wade and the numerous Trump investigations ranging from stolen federal documents to inciting a violent insurrection.

Incumbent Democrats cruised to victory in the primary saving them money and giving them time to build the brand, but this is not your parents Republican Party.

Millions and millions of dark money and traceable money from Political Action Committees is poised to try to influence these races.

Your favorite Democrat may be considered a child molester by people not paying attention to politics once the ads blanket the airwaves and social media leading up to primary day.

It is ugly out there.

On the state level, there were some interesting trends.

Only two of the five Executive Council district races had unopposed candidates for both Democrats and Republicans, District 1 with GOP incumbent Joe Kenney and Democratic challenger and Somersworth Mayor Dana Hilliard, and District 3 with incumbent Republican Janet Stevens and Democrat Katherine Harake.

The Republican incumbents in districts 4 and 5, Ted Gatsas and David Wheeler both had opponents in the primary. Both considered fiscal and social conservatives, they had challenges from the Libertarian or Free State vein of their party.

Gatsas faced Terese Grinnell, a Loudon nurse who was arrested at one Executive Council meeting protesting accepting federal money for a COVID-19 vaccination program.

And Wheeler faced former Derry Representative Anne Copp, who resigned and claimed significant voter fraud in the 2020 election, where she was elected after losing a number of attempts running from Danbury.

The gerrymandering of District 2 forced a former executive councilor to run against the incumbent councilor for the Democrats.

Incumbent Cinde Warmington easily defeated former District 1 councilor Michael Cryans.

Warmington will face state Sen. Harold French who survived a primary to win the Republican nomination.

For the Democrats, state Sen. Keven Cavanaugh ran unopposed for the District 4 nomination, while Nashua Alderman Shoshanna Kelly was unopposed for District 5.

The far-right challengers to conservative Republicans says the party may be headed more in the Free State/Libertarian direction in the future than toward the Main Street Republicans who once dominated the GOP.

The State Senate has eight open seats, the most in quite a while, with several senators running for higher office like Senate President Chuck Morse, and District 24 Sen. Tom Sherman running for governor, and French and Cavanaugh running for Executive Council.

Others just decided not to run again like District 10 Sen. Jay Kahn, and District 17 Sen. John Reagan and District 2 Sen. Bob Giuda.

And District 1 Sen. Erin Hennessey resigned several months ago to become Deputy Secretary of State.

The question is who will replace these senators.

Shermans and Kahns districts are safely Democratic, while Morses, Reagans, Cavanaughs, Giudas and Frenchs districts are solidly Republican.

The only toss up really is District 1, which includes most of the state from the White Mountains north.

It is safe to say that the majority of Republican candidates who won their primaries in Republican leaning seats are more conservative than the ones who are leaving and in one case libertarian or free state leaning.

The Democrats replacing those in Democratic leaning seats are slightly more progressive than the senators they would replace.

With the gerrymandered Senate giving Republicans from 15 to 16 safe seats most elections, the body is likely to be more conservative with more liberty bills making it through.

The Senate has usually been the brake on the more expansive House agenda.

The House general election will be interesting. As of today, there are 202 Republicans and 179Democrats, which means two things, given the current political make-up, Democrats would need to flip about a dozen seats for majority control, and with 19 empty seats more like two dozen to be safe.

Beyond that, the primary election was a paradox in the House particularly for Republicans.

On one hand, Citizens for Belknap successfully targeted about half a dozen Free Stater/Libertarian House members who were the leaders of the county delegation (all 18 Belknap County House members) responsible for the shenanigans that led to the closing of Gunstock Ski and Recreation Area this summer, and also significantly reduced funding for the county nursing home and sheriffs department.

Other organizations targeted Free State candidates running in Democratic primaries and in other races where they tried to stay below the radar.

On the other hand, pro-life forces like Cornerstone Action targeted Republicans who backed changes in the law passed last year instigating an abortion ban after 23 weeks of pregnancy that also required an invasive ultrasound, and had no exceptions except for the life of the mother.

All four of the six Republicans seeking reelection who sponsored a bill to change key provisions of the ban, were targeted and only prime sponsor Dan Wolf survived.

One group claimed more than a dozen pro-choice Republicans were defeated in the primary Tuesday.

Other house Republicans targetedwere those opposed to right-to-work legislation.

The belief going into the current session was this was the best opportunity in years to pass the union-busting, right-to-work legislation, but it fell short in the House as it always has to date.

Democrats are losing some of their key people over the last couple of terms, but have been successful in recruiting younger, more progressive candidates in areas that lean Democratic.

If all those changes hold in the general election, the next two years may be even more partisan with an expanded cultural war than witnessed the last two years.

Democrats are not going to flip the Senate nor the Executive Council in the next decade they are so gerrymandered, but the House could flip from time-to-time.

And given the candidates at the top of the ticket for the GOP this year, this may be one of those times with abortion on the ballot and the legal hellhounds on Trumps tail.

Garry Rayno may be reached atgarry.rayno@yahoo.com.

Distant Domeby veteran journalist Garry Rayno explores a broader perspective on the State House and state happenings for InDepthNH.org. Over his three-decade career, Rayno covered the NH State House for the New Hampshire Union Leader and Fosters Daily Democrat. During his career, his coverage spanned the news spectrum, from local planning, school and select boards, to national issues such as electric industry deregulation and Presidential primaries. Raynolives with his wife Carolyn in New London.

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