Archive for the ‘Republicans’ Category

At Least 10 Republicans Who Were At The Jan. 6 Rally Just Got Elected To Office – HuffPost

At least 10 Republicans who attended the Jan. 6 rally in Washington, D.C., that turned into a deadly insurrection were elected to office Tuesday.

Three were elected to state legislatures, and seven won positions at the local level.

Although most have claimed they didnt breach the U.S. Capitol on that day, all were participants in the demonstration leading up to the attack, standing alongside extremists to take part in the finale of a months-long anti-democratic campaign to falsely claim that then-President Donald Trump hadnt really lost the 2020 election.

Their victories on Tuesday are a possible sign of things to come: HuffPost previously identified at 57 state and local GOP officials who attended the Jan. 6 rally, many of whom will be up for reelection and will likely keep office next year.

That these candidates enjoy the support of the wider Republican Party and are winning elections does not bode well for American democracy, showing that one of the countrys major political parties, despite some initial gestures at being horrified by the events of Jan. 6, is almost completely unrepentant over its role in fomenting the historic attack on the Capitol.

Among the Jan. 6 attendees who won office on Tuesday were two Republicans reelected to the Virginia House of Delegates: Dave LaRock and John McGuire.

Bill Clark via Getty Images

Earlier this year LaRock, responding to criticism from a Black elected official about his role in the insurrection, said the official should focus on the needs of the colored community. (He later apologized for the comment.)

McGuire won his seat despite his Democratic opponent unearthing a photo showing him standing near men in paramilitary gear confronting police on Jan. 6. McGuire had previously claimed he hadnt heard of the violence at the U.S. Capitol until returning home. The news, he said, had shocked and horrified him.

Marie March, a restaurant owner who bragged in a campaign advertisement about her attendance at the Jan. 6 Stop the Steal rally and who in a since-deleted Facebook post warned of a coming Civil War in which she would be willing to fight and die for both her family and small businesses, also won a seat in the Virginia House of Delegates on Tuesday.

In city councils across the country, Jan. 6 rally attendee Natalie Jangula won a seat in Nampa, Idaho, and Christine Ead, who did not enter the Capitol building and later wrote a Facebook post falsely blaming the violence on ANTIFA and other anarchists, won a seat in Watchung, New Jersey.

Charles Ausburger also won a seat on the town council of Mansfield, Connecticut, an official at the town clerks office confirmed to HuffPost. Ausburger didnt have to campaign too hard though: There were only eight candidates for the nine-seat council.

Susan Soloway, who helped organized a bus to transport Trump supporters to the Jan. 6 rally, won reelection to the Hunterdon County, New Jersey, Board of Directors. Soloway attended the rally and later posted on Facebook a selfie outside of the Capitol, which she later deleted. She claims not to have entered the building, and to have turned over footage she took at the riot to the FBI.

In Braintree, Massachusetts, a former high school teacher who resigned his position after local activists sent a photo of him outside the Capitol on Jan. 6 to the FBI, won a seat on the local school committee. Matthew Lynch received the second most votes in the six-candidate race for three open school committee seats. He told Patch earlier this year that the FBI has visited him twice since Jan. 6, but did not elaborate on what occurred during those interviews. In his correspondence with Patch, he accused the activists of slandering me as a domestic terrorist, and called them a digital Lynch mob. Its unclear if he breached the Capitol building.

And in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, wife-husband duo Danielle and Stephen Lindemuth who were part of a bus trip to the rally from nearby Lancaster won two seats on the school board. The couple, according to The Lancaster Online, campaigned on promising to keep critical race theory and The 1619 Project out of schools. In a March school board meeting on Zoom, the couple who have said multiple bigoted things online complained about a poster in their daughters classroom depicting Black Lives Matter protesters. Stephen Lindemuth told the school board that Black Lives Matter was a Marxist organization with anti-American values that are largely anti-family.

At least one race involving a Jan. 6 attendees is still undecided. Monica Manthey is still awaiting results in her race to join the Annapolis, Maryland, city council.

Im not a crazy insurrectionist person, Manthey, who attended the rally but claimed she didnt enter the Capitol building on Jan. 6, insisted to HuffPost on Wednesday morning. Asked if the riot made her rethink her support of Trump, Manthey replied: I never rethought my support.

Elsewhere across the country, at least five Jan. 6 attendees were defeated at the ballot box. In Virginia, two candidates Maureen Brody and Phillp Hamilton lost their bids to join the House of Delegates.

Paul Weaver/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Steve Lynch, who pushed debunked conspiracy theories that the siege of the Capitol was a false flag event carried out by leftists, lost his race for county executive in Northampton County, Pennsylvania.

Incumbent T.J. Onerlaw, who said he got pretty darn close to where the door is at the Capitol but was unaware until later that night that anyone had breached the building, was defeated in his quest for another term in the Mason, Ohio, city council.

And Edward Durfee Jr., a member of the far-right militia the Oath Keepers, a group heavily implicated in the violence on Jan. 6, lost a race for a seat in the New Jersey General Assembly. Durfee, who previously told BuzzFeed News he did not storm the Capitol but was working as security for the Oath Keepers, currently heads up the Republican Party in Northvale, New Jersey.

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At Least 10 Republicans Who Were At The Jan. 6 Rally Just Got Elected To Office - HuffPost

How did Republicans turn critical race theory into a winning electoral issue? – The Guardian

What is critical race theory?

Developed by the former Harvard Law professor Derrick Bell and other scholars in the 1970s and 80s, critical race theory, or CRT, examines the ways in which racism was embedded into American law and other modern institutions, maintaining the dominance of white people.

CRT argues that racism is not a matter of individual bigotry but a systemic issue that creates an uneven playing field for people of colour.

Kimberl Williams Crenshaw, a law professor widely credited with coining the term, told the New York Times: It is a way of seeing, attending to, accounting for, tracing and analyzing the ways that race is produced, the ways that racial inequality is facilitated, and the ways that our history has created these inequalities that now can be almost effortlessly reproduced unless we attend to the existence of these inequalities.

A year or so ago few people had heard of it, yet Republicans have whipped up a moral panic that CRT is being rammed down the throats of schoolchildren. They caricature it as teaching Black children to internalise victimhood and white children to self-identify as oppressors.

Is it taught in schools?

No, it is not a part of the secondary school curriculum. The National School Boards Association and other education leaders are adamant that CRT is not being taught in K-12 schools, which teach students from five to 18 years old.

But Rupert Murdochs Fox News and other rightwing media have turned it into a catch-all buzzword for any teaching in schools about race and American history. They loosely apply it to concepts such as equity and anti-bias training for teachers.

Patti Hidalgo Menders, president of the Loudoun County Republican Womens Club in Virginia, told the Guardian last week: They may not call it critical race theory, but theyre calling it equity, diversity, inclusion. They use culturally responsive training for their teachers. It is fundamentally CRT.

Its dividing our children into victims and oppressors and whats a child supposed to do with that?

Efforts to weaponise CRT were reinforced by former president Donald Trump and a rightwing ecosystem including influential thinktanks. Last year Christopher Rufo, a conservative scholar now at the Manhattan Institute, told the Fox News host Tucker Carlson that CRT was a form of cult indoctrination.

In January the Heritage Foundation hosted a panel discussion where the moderator, Angela Sailor, warned: Critical race theory is the complete rejection of the best ideas of the American founding. This is some dangerous, dangerous philosophical poisoning in the blood stream.

What role did CRT play in Virginias election?

Winning Republican candidate Glenn Youngkins signature issue was education. He hammered government schools on culture war issues such as race and transgender rights and falsely claimed that his Democratic opponent, Terry McAuliffe, called his friend, President Joe Biden, and asked the FBI to silence conservative parents.

Youngkin said he would ban the teaching of CRT in Virginia classrooms. At a campaign event in Glen Allen last month, the candidate said to applause: What we wont do is teach our children to view everything through the lens of race. On day one, I will ban critical race theory.

McAuliffe was forced on to the defensive and had to engage with the issue. He accused Republicans of using the Trump playbook of division and deceit, a message that did not cut through in the same way.

Why did the issue resonate with voters?

This can be seen as a rightwing backlash to last years Black Lives Matter protests and conversations about structural racism that followed the police murder of George Floyd, an African American man in Minneapolis. It also can be seen as a response to Americas changing demographics, specifically the increase in the minority population.

It also comes after lengthy school closures during the pandemic infuriated many parents. School board meetings in Virginia and elsewhere have turned ugly, even violent, and protest signs calling for bans on masks and CRT are sometimes almost interchangeable.

This week conservatives targeted school board elections nationwide over masking rules and teaching racial justice issues. In Virginia, 14% of voters listed education as a top issue, and about seven of 10 of those voted for Youngkin.

McAuliffe did not help himself when, during a debate, he said, I dont believe parents should be telling schools what they should teach a line that was constantly replayed in Youngkin attacks ads.

Youngkin also highlighted a high school bathroom sexual assault case in affluent Loudoun county, in northern Virginia, to argue against allowing transgender students into their chosen restrooms.

Is it just Virginia?

No. Officials in Republican-controlled states across America are proposing numerous laws to ban teachers from emphasizing the role of systemic racism. Legislation aiming to curb how teachers talk about race has been considered by at least 15 states, according to research by Education Week.

Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, has described CRT as state-sanctioned racism.

Brad Little, the governor of Idaho, signed into law a measure banning public schools from teaching CRT, which it claimed will exacerbate and inflame divisions on the basis of sex, race, ethnicity, religion, color, national origin, or other criteria in ways contrary to the unity of the nation and the wellbeing of the state of Idaho and its citizens.

Red states are also targeting the 1619 Project, a series by the New York Times which contends that modern American history began with the arrival of enslaved people four centuries ago and examines that legacy.

Republicans are expected to use the Youngkin formula to woo suburban voters in next years midterm elections for Congress.

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How did Republicans turn critical race theory into a winning electoral issue? - The Guardian

Brian Howey: How Indiana Republicans found their way to ice cream – Terre Haute Tribune Star

Indiana Republicans have dominated state politics over this past generation, holding all Statehouse constitutional offices, super majorities in the General Assembly and all but two seats of the congressional delegation for much of the past decade.

Aug. 14, 2001, became the fateful date when they began to turn things around after Democrat Govs. Evan Bayh and Frank OBannon had won the previous four gubernatorial elections. That was the day The Phoenix Group had its open house at the Klipsch Audio Technologies headquarters near the Indianapolis pyramids.

It was a fundraiser like no other the party had seen in years. The Phoenix Group had formed earlier that year by GOP financiers Jim Kittle, Bob Grand and Randall Tobias in an effort to reinvigorate the once thriving Indiana Republican machine that had been shut out of gubernatorial races since the rise of Evan Bayh in 1988.

Kittle and other Republican financiers had grown frustrated over what they saw as a four-year cycle of reinventing the wheel when it came to statewide races. It seems like we start from scratch every time, he told Howey Politics in 2001. And theres been growing frustration over high-level campaigns run by John Mutz, Stephen Goldsmith, David McIntosh and Indianapolis mayoral nominee Sue Anne Gilroy where a lack of money hasnt been a problem. What had hamstrung Indiana Republicans had been top-flight competition, poor strategy and execution, and a lack of competitive technology.

The Phoenix Group was essentially a shadow party. When Mike McDaniel stepped down, it created a race between Kittle and Grant Countys John Earnest (who had lost a chair race to Rex Early a decade before), with Kittle prevailing.

It was all seen as a precursor to Mitch Daniels leaving his White House budget director post to run for governor. That notion had been speculated months before. I remember meeting Chairman McDaniel earlier that year when he said the Republicans had a secret weapon. He then wrote the name Mitch Daniels on a piece of paper.

Daniels was an acolyte to legendary Marion County Chairman Keith Bulen, then rose through the ranks as a staffer to U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar, at one point leading the National Republican Senatorial Committee. After Dan Quayle was elected vice president in 1988, Gov. Robert Orr had offered Daniels the open Senate seat, which he turned down due to family considerations.

Kittle, Grand and Tobias essentially created The Phoenix Group to lure Daniels out of the White House and into the 2004 governors race.

Daniels would say after Kittle was elected chair, I would walk across hot coals for Jim Kittle and Ed Simcox.

As we all know, Daniels did return to Indiana full time (he didnt move the family to Washington when he worked for President George W. Bush) coming back to defeat Democrat Gov. Joe Kernan in 2004, setting in motion the second GOP dynasty that is still intact today.

Rex Early enunciated the central truth about the reality of a major party power: Being state chairman with a governor and being state chairman without a governor is the difference between ice cream and dog poop.

Since 1960, there have been 37 Republican and Democratic chairmen and for two years, Ann DeLaney ran the Indiana Democratic Party. This club of power is almost exclusively dominated by white males. In addition to DeLaney, the only minority chair was Robin Winston, who led Indiana Democrats under Gov. Frank OBannon.

There were the transformational chairs like Republicans James Neal, Jim Kittle, Eric Holcomb and now Kyle Hupfer, and Democrats like John Livengood and Joe Andrew, who helped pave the way for gubernatorial party switches and prolonged power maintenance.

There were placeholder chairs like McDaniel and Democrats Gordon St. Angelo, Dan Parker and John Zody, who attempted with varying degrees of success to stabilize their parties while lacking resources (i.e. the governor).

There were those who served at the pleasure of their governors: Thomas Milligan and Bruce Melchert under Gov. Doc Bowen; Gordon Durnil during Gov. Orrs two terms; Murray Clark and Holcomb under Gov. Daniels; Hupfer under Gov. Holcomb; Democrats John Livengood, Michael Pannos and DeLaney under Gov. Bayh, and Winston under Gov. OBannon; Joe Hogsett and Kip Tew under Gov. Kernan; Tim Berry and Jeff Cardwell under Gov. Mike Pence.

And there were the rescue chairs Early and current Democratic Chairman Mike Schmuhl who took the job when their parties were at a low ebb.

Schmuhl took the helm of Indiana Democrats in March. The party has been relegated to essentially Indianapolis, Lake County and the university cities. There are only two Democrats in the General Assembly south of Bloomington.

He is now leading Democrats on a Small Town Tour hoping to show voters, as former legislator Melanie Wright said last week, that they dont have horns sprouting from their heads. According to Schmuhl, the party has to show up even in the deepest red counties. This past week Schmuhl, former congresswoman Jill Long Thompson and others have appeared in LaGrange, Cicero and North Vernon to talk about President Bidens American Rescue Plan.

Told about Rex Earlys quote about being a chair without a governor, Schmuhl knew about it, saying, Thats a really good one. I had ice cream last night.

The columnist is publisher of Howey Politics Indiana at http://www.howeypolitics.com. Find Howey on Facebook and Twitter @hwypol.

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Brian Howey: How Indiana Republicans found their way to ice cream - Terre Haute Tribune Star

The New York City Council Races Where Republicans Still Stand a Chance – The New York Times

The Republican candidates in New Yorks competitive races differ from one another in tone, experience and the local issues that reflect their distinctive districts.

But all of those contests, party officials and strategists say, are shaped by the continued salience of public safety in the minds of voters, discussion of education matters like the gifted and talented program that Mayor Bill de Blasio wants to phase out, and intense feelings over vaccine mandates. Some Republicans even argue that the challenging national environment that Democrats appear to be facing may be evident in a handful of city races, too.

This has a lot of likenesses to 2009, when Obama came in on hope and change and then fell flat, said Nick Langworthy, the chairman of the New York Republican State Committee. In 2009 we had great gains at the local level, and then had a cataclysm in 2010. Are we facing that, or is there going to be flatness all the way around?

Whatever the turnout, Republicans are virtually certain to be shut out of citywide offices. Indeed, by nearly every metric, the Republican Party has been decimated in the nations largest city. They are vastly outnumbered in voter registration and have struggled to field credible candidates for major offices.

At the City Council level, Republican hopes boil down to a matter of margins.

The most optimistic Republican assessment, barring extraordinary developments, is that they could increase their presence to five from three on the 51-seat City Council, as they did in 2009. But even that would require a surprise outcome in a sleeper race and it is possible they retain only one seat (setting aside the candidates who are running on multiple party lines).

Officials on both sides of the aisle believe a more realistic target for the Republicans is three or four seats, a number that could still affect the brewing City Council speakers race and may indicate pockets of discontent with the direction of the city.

What to Know About the 2021 New York Election

The most high-profile of those contests is the last Republican-held seat in Queens.

Ms. Singh, a teacher who is endorsed by the left-wing Working Families Party, is running against Joann Ariola, the chairwoman of the Queens Republican Party. The race has stirred considerable interest from the left and the right and attracted spending from outside groups.

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The New York City Council Races Where Republicans Still Stand a Chance - The New York Times

Black Virginia lawmakers criticize Republicans over flyers depicting them as puppets – The Hill

Two Black Democratic state legislators from Virginia have accused the state'sRepublican Party of using racist tropes after it sentout flyersdepicting them as puppets hoisted in the air by handheld strings, The Associated Press reported.

The state GOP mailed out flyers targeting eight Democrats currently running for state House seats, five of whom are white and three of whom are Black, according to the AP. All of the candidates are depicted as puppets being held by strings under the phrase "D.C. liberals are pulling the strings in Richmond," while Speaker Nancy PelosiNancy PelosiSanders declined to sign statement condemning protests against Sinema: report Pelosi's office denies claims on Trump meeting from Grisham's book Legislative limbo how low can they go? MORE (D-Calif.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-CortezAlexandria Ocasio-CortezMarkey endorses Michelle Wu in race for Boston mayor Manchin's 'red line' on abortion splits Democrats Far-left bullies resort to harassing, shaming Kyrsten Sinema it won't work MORE (D-N.Y.) can be seen looking on. But only two of the candidates Black lawmakers Del. Josh Cole (D) and Del. Alex Askew (D) are seen dangling over the ground, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

The third Black lawmaker, Del. Roslyn Tyler (D), doesnt appear suspended above the ground, the Times-Dispatchreported.

Both Askew and Cole criticized their depiction in the mailers, suggesting they evoked Virginia's history of lynching. Cole called the mailers a "dog whistle" and accused the state GOP of "using racist tropes to get their voters to come out," according to the AP.

Thestate GOP denied any racist intent, saying the"mailers were sent against eight candidates of all backgrounds," the AP reported.

The party added in its statement that Democrats think their"only path to victory is trying to trick Virginians into thinking its racist for anyone to hold any candidate accountable."

The Virginia Republican Party did not immediately respond to The Hill's request for comment.

Askew, who represents a swing district in Virginia Beach, tweeted that the state GOP party"is depicting me as bound & hanging by rope." He said the flyers follow "an attack mailer that displayed a darkened, burning photo of my face."

Karen -- last month, you sent an attack mailer that displayed a darkened, burning photo of my face. Now, your party is depicting me as bound & hanging by rope.

YET AGAIN: These images rely on some of the laziest, most blatantly racist tropes about Black people in history. https://t.co/3fCQT2HjuD pic.twitter.com/F32KnpMLBX

Askewadded that "depicting any black person as burning or hanging propagates some of the most dangerous, racist tropes in history."

Cole, who is up for reelection against Republican Tara Durant,said that he heard that the mailers were being used in districts that the Republicans were hoping to flip, according to NBC Washington.

This year's election in Virginia is being closely watched as a potential bellwether for the midterms in 2022,when Republicans hope to regain control of both chambers of Congress.

Early voting in Virginia has already begun, with Election Day set for Nov. 2.

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Black Virginia lawmakers criticize Republicans over flyers depicting them as puppets - The Hill