Next year's Republican primary for the GOP nomination to run against Senator Tim Kaine is shaping up to be one of crazy versus crazy. Failed GOP gubernatorial candidate Corey Stewart has already said that he will be running - most likely on a neo-Confederate agenda - and now self-proclaimed "bishop" E. W. Jackson is reported to be preparing for a run for the GOP nomination as well, in Jackson's case most likely as a Christian Taliban candidate. The lunacy will no doubt be off the charts, but such is the nature of today's Republican Party of Virginia that sane and normal individuals are simply not welcome. We last saw Stewart when he nearly defeated Ed Gillespie in the 2017 GOP gubernatorial primary. Jackson, of course, lost resoundingly to Ralph Northam in the 2013 Lt. Governor contest. Tim Kaine must be smiling if this is the best the GOP can field against him. A piece in the Washington Post looks at Jackson's insanity/ego driven announcement. As for Jerry Falwell, Jr.'s, remarks, if there is a swamp that needs draining, part of it is located in Lynchburg and goes by the name of Liberty University. Here are article highlights:
E.W. Jackson, a firebrand minister who says yoga leads to Satan and gay people are ill, plans to announce he is seeking the Republican nomination to challenge U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) next year, according to Jackson’s finance director.Jackson will announce his candidacy on Dec. 11 in the Chesapeake area, said Steven Thomas, who said he is raising money for Jackson’s campaign and filled the same role during Jackson’s 2013 losing bid for lieutenant governor. A website registered to Jackson was updated Tuesday and announces “EW Jackson for U.S. Senate.”
Jackson has a history of controversial comments from calling gay and lesbian individuals “very sick people” to suggesting the practice of yoga invites Satan to possess one’s soul.
He will face Corey Stewart, the bombastic Republican official from Prince William County who ran for the GOP nomination for governor earlier this year in the mold of President Trump. Several other Republicans are weighing whether to jump into the race.
The Senate field is expected to solidify this weekend when Virginia Republicans gather for their largest annual event — dubbed the Advance — at an Allegheny Mountain resort in western Virginia.
In an interview on WAMU radio last week, Virginia GOP Chairman John Whitbeck said the party will remain neutral, but noted, “It’s not going to be just Corey Stewart in this race by himself.”
Stewart, who declared in July, on Tuesday announced the endorsement of Jerry Falwell Jr., the influential head of Liberty University and ally of President Trump. . . . Trump needs Stewart “in the U.S. Senate to help clean up the swamp in Washington,” Falwell said.
In response to the endorsement, Stewart said,“Virginia’s awakening is happening, and Mr. Falwell’s endorsement is proof positive conservative Republicans will take back Virginia.”
In addition to Stewart, the only other candidate who filed federal paperwork to run as of Tuesday is Ivan Raiklin, an Army veteran who recently jogged an average of 22 miles a day to bring awareness to suicide among veterans and to kick off his campaign.
Republicans turned off by Stewart’s approach are looking to another candidate, Del. Nick Freitas (Culpeper), who said Tuesday he is considering a run for the nomination.
The two-term state lawmaker is former head of the Culpeper County GOP and moved to Virginia in 2009. He served in the Army special forces as a Green Beret and is currently a defense contractor.
John Norton Moore, an international law expert who has taught at University of Virginia School of Law on and off for a half century, is also considering a run, he said in an interview Monday.
Freitas, Moore, Raiklin and Stewart will host small parties in hotel suites at the GOP retreat, a sign to party activists that they are interested in running for public office.
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