Would it be a waste of money? Give something to a candidate opposing one of the most offensive members of congress? Late in the campaign? You decide. The following are a few whose behavior is egregious. Consider opposing them.
CA 22 Defeat Devon Nunes. Give some money to prosecutor Andrew Janz. Devon Nunes has distinguished himself. No one is quite like him. Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, he has been in charge of the House of Representative’s investigation into Russian involvement in the 2016 election. The House Ethics office investigated whether he had disclosed classified information and took no action against him. What’s wrong is that Nunes is taking direction from the White House he was supposed to investigate. He has now closed the House’s investigation. He could be replaced by a genuine prosecutor — Andrew Janz.Andrew Janz had no chance when he began his campaign. District 22 is very Republican. Now, he has a chance. Janz is the child of immigrants — a Canadian dad who served in the US Peace Corp and a mom from Thailand. His positions on immigration reflect his overall approach. Secure borders and immigration reform at the same time. A business orientation (agro-business as appropriate for this district) combined with measures of humanity. If you are looking for a last minute fling, try Andrew Janz https://www.andrewjanzforcongress.com/.
Regrettably, Andrew Janz lost, Devon Nunes was elected 54 – 46.
CA 50 Defeat Duncan Hunter. Give some money to former Labor Department Official Ammar Campa-NajjarAn indictment is a formal charge of criminal behavior. A grand jury indicts someone if it finds there is probable cause to make that charge. Duncan Hunter has been indicted. Is this the time to say that an individual is innocent until proven guilty. Not exactly. A jury presumes innocence unless guilt is proven. We and the rest of the public may contemplate guilt. Duncan Hunter was indicted for campaign violations. The Congressional Ethics office which referred the case for criminal investigation said: “Rep. Hunter may have converted tens of thousands of dollars of campaign funds from his congressional campaign committee to personal use to pay for family travel, flights, utilities, health care, school uniforms, and tuition, jewelry, groceries, and other goods, services, and expenses.” Should Hunter be in Congress while he fights these charges?
His opponent is former Labor Department Official Ammar Campa-Najjar. Campa-Najjar has his own controversy. On his mother’s side, he descends from Mexican immigrants. Like his mother, Campa-Najjar is Catholic. On his father’s side, he descends from Palestinians. Unlike his grandfather, notwithstanding Hunter’s attacks, Campa-Najjar is no terrorist. His grandfather was a terrorist, one of the murderers at the Munich Olympics. The family lived in Gaza for three years. A violent place, his mother moved with her two children back to California when Campa-Najjar was twelve. Growing up poor, Campa-Najjar worked as a janitor. After Community College and San Diego State University, he worked as a field organizer for the Obama 2012 Campaign, in the Executive Office after the campaign, for the US Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and then the Labor Department. Now, at 29, he is running for Congress. If you are looking for a last minute fling, try Ammar Campa-Najjar https://www.campacampaign.com
Regrettably, Ammar Camp-Najjar lost, Duncan Hunter was elected 54 – 46.
IA 22 Defeat Steve King. Give some money to former Sioux City Explorer baseball player Jim Scholten. One of Iowa’s four members of Congress is a Democrat. State Rep Abby Finkenauer and former state official Cynthia Axne threaten to make it three out of four. Let’s make it four for four. Few predicted that Steve King would be vulnerable. Until the last few days. He entered this year’s campaign complacently. He had $75,000 in the bank. At crunch time, this fall, he had $175,000. His focus has been international. He met with Austrians — members of a far right party that includes former Nazis. Particularly jarring in the context of the antisemitic murder of Jews in Pittsburgh. King has regularly made disparaging remarks about Jews, blacks, and Hispanics. His claim that Mexicans who came across the border had calves the size of cantaloupes from carrying drugs is remembered by many. Recently, he refused to take down an advertisement featuring a performer who has been openly antisemitic.
J.D. Scholten is having a Field of Dreams moment. A local baseball player playing for the local minor league team, the Sioux City Explorers. He never got beyond the minor leagues. He has worked as a paralegal, has been an activist Democrat and an activist Catholic. His run against Steve King seemed less plausible than his chance to make the major leagues. This year may be different. Scholten is likeable. He argues for a liberal vision that includes affordable health insurance for all and a $15 minimum wage. He is working hard — traveling around the district with his dad in a decorated RV. Steve King has done him a favor — combining complacency with visible racism and antisemitism at a time when these views are embarrassing to the district. If you are looking for a last minute fling for your money in this campaign, try JD Scholten https://www.scholten4iowa.com/
Regrettably, Jim Scholten lost, Steven King was elected 50 – 47.
NY 27 Defeat Chris Collins. Give some money to Town Supervisor Nathan McMurray. Like Duncan Hunter of CA 22, Chris Collins is running for reelection to Congress while under indictment. Collins has been accused of insider trading, wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit securities fraud. The largest shareholder of a medical firm with virtually only one medication, he recruited others to buy shares, then sold some of his own shares when he learned the drug failed its clinical trial. Apart from the criminal accusations, his legislative history is ungenerous. He stopped the Andrew Cuomo from helping prisoners get college degrees. He sponsored legislation prohibiting that use of federal funds.Nathan McMurray had no opposition for the Democratic nomination. No one expected the race to be competitive. McMurray has turned out to be an interesting candidate in this real contest. He is both local and international. He grew up living on the banks of the Erie Canal. Went to a local community college and to SUNY Buffalo. He left the state for law school. Hastings at the University of California. He develooped an interest in Asia. Got a master’s degree from a Chinese university. A Fulbright for further study in South Korea. He taught law in South Korea and represented the interests of American businesses there. Back home in Western New York and semi-retired, his campaign ad showed him speaking Korean. Collins claimed McMurray was promising Koreans American jobs would move there. Not so, of course, What is so, is that McMurray is not your everyday Town Supervisor. If you are looking for a last minute fling for your money in this campaign, try Nate McMurray https://votemcmurray.com/
Regrettably, Nate McMurray lost, Chris Collins was elected 59 – 48
OH 15 Defeat Steve Stivers. Give some money to International Aid Worker Rick Neal.Steve Stivers doesn’t usually show up on a list of worst Members of Congress. He seems like a model Republican. An Eagle Scout as a boy, a securities trader as a young man. He was elected to Congress in 2010. Now Chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee. A few days ago, he joined in the chorus condemning Congressman Steve King’s connections with antisemitic Austrians. A week before though, Stivers was defending an RCCC campaign advertisement showing George Soros (this century’s version of a Rothschild-like Jew) behind a pile of his money. Neither Stivers nor Steve King would propose shooting Jews in a synagogue. Both join in on antisemitism. Stivers is getting away with it. The more we allow “respectable” people to get away with antisemitism and racism, the more antisemitism and racism becomes respectable. Rick Neal, Stivers’ Democratic opponent, is a married gay man, parent of two girls with whom he has been at home since their adoption. Now, he is calling out bigotry and opposing Stivers. He joined the Peace Corps out of College then continued working internationally. He ran local non-profits in Cambodia, the Congo, Afghanistan aiming to bring people clean water, medicare, and infrastructure. He helped address ebola in Liberia. He has been willing to take on life-threatening work. If you are looking for a last minute fling for your money in this campaign, try Rick Neal https://rickneal.com/
Regrettably, Rick Neal lost, Steve Stivers was elected 59 – 40.
TX 01 Defeat Louie Gohmert Give some money to veteran and nursing supervisor Shirley McKellarIf you google the dumbest Congressman, you will get Louie Gohmert. It is not quite true. It is true that he decided to go without health insurance rather than purchase health insurance through the exchanges. He had alternatives for buying insurance on his own, but didn’t take them. Gohmert started out with promise. Brigade Leader at Texas A & M, class president there and at Baylor Law School. A JAG defense attorney. Elected as a judge back home in Texas. He liked attention. Got some when he convicted a man with HIV for auto theft and required him to inform future sexual partners of his HIV status. In Congress, he has continued getting attention by being offensive. He proposed a law to require candidates for President to produce their birth certificate. He complained the FBI was more interested in investigating evangelicals than the man who became the Boston Marathon bomber. He urged the Democratic Party to disband because of its past support of slavery and segregation. He refused to hold public hearings because, he said, he would be a target of assassination. He claims the data supporting the existence of climate change is fraudulent. He insisted that an Alaskan pipeline would ensure the continuation of caribou as a species because it would lead the caribou to have more sex. He expressed regret that the teachers at Sandy Hook weren’t armed. He claimed that the FBI was examining the possibility that Middle Eastern women were coming to the US to have babies who would grow up to be terrorist American citizens — “terror babies.” Stupid: Probably not. Offensive: Often. Logical: Sometimes. Dangerous: Probably. Meanspirited: Almost all the time. That’s what these they have in common, these Members of Congress worth opposing.
Of the candidates opposing these targeted Republicans, Shirley McKellar is among the least likely to get a victory. TX 01 is a very conservative, 60% white district. Gohmert hasn’t done anything new. Nothing has further embarrassed the district. She is a legitimate candidate. She recalls the Civil Rights movement and academic discrimination at Tyler Junior College. She made her way through more welcoming colleges and universities, ultimately earning a PhD in Nursing and Healthcare Management.. She served in the military for 18 years, several of those in Iraq. On her website, she compares her views to Louie Gohmert’s. She credits him with supporting homeland security, as she does. She credits herself, but not Gohmert with supporting veterans, universal health care, small businesses, and national defense. If you are looking for a last minute fling for your money in this campaign, try Shirley McKellar https://www.votemckellar.com/
Regrettably, Shirley McKellar lost, Louis Gohmert was elected 72 – 26
This is the last Note before the election. It is not my last word. I will look at election winners and losers, at leadership contests, and elections in 2019. Win or lose, we should press for a country that Republicans seem intent on destroying. Donald Trump is their leader. The Republicans have followed without doubt or hesitation. Callousness. Meanspiritedness. Hatred, even. Those are their watchwords. Not ours.