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You are here: Home / Elections / Election 2020 / Election Year Open Thread: J.D. Scholten for Iowa

Election Year Open Thread: J.D. Scholten for Iowa

by Anne Laurie|  June 3, 202010:24 am| 15 Comments

This post is in: Election 2020, Proud to Be A Democrat, Republicans in Disarray!

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world's tiniest violin plays hallelujah chorus https://t.co/tbPh335F5G

— (((Yair Rosenberg))) (@Yair_Rosenberg) June 3, 2020

In his concession speech, Steve King attributes his loss to super PACs but in this primary race the PACs opposing him were from his own party. My man.

— Lyz Lenz (@lyzl) June 3, 2020


Per the Washington Post:

… Support for King started to evaporate last year after he made racially offensive remarks that forced national Republicans to distance themselves from the conservative Iowa firebrand.

That gave an opening to state Sen. Randy Feenstra, who garnered support from national GOP groups and from some prominent Iowa conservatives who argued that King undermined his influence in Washington with his drumbeat of provocative behavior…

Although Feenstra hesitated to attack King directly for his views, he was not shy about questioning his relevance in Washington — particularly after King lost his seat on the House Agriculture Committee, an important sinecure for the rural western Iowa district.

“The 4th District needs a seat at the table, an effective conservative voice,” Feenstra said in a May 26 debate held by WHO-TV. “To me, this election is about real results, not campaign rhetoric. . . . Our district, our president deserves an effective conservative leader in Congress.”…

… The 4th District is 92.8 percent white, making it one of the least diverse districts in the country.

It is also historically conservative, but the controversies swirling around King took a toll on his popularity. In 2016, he won by 22 percentage points over his Democratic opponent. In 2018, he beat first-time candidate J.D. Scholten by barely three points, and now Scholten is running again with a campaign war chest five times as large as that of any GOP candidate…

Thread –

For those analyzing Steve King's defeat tonight, I hope they will give due credit to @JDScholten, who arrived in summer of 2017 as a political nobody and campaigned King into the ground in what should have been a solid red district. (Disclosure: I have fundraised for Scholten)

— Pinboard (@Pinboard) June 3, 2020

Ultimately, this is a normative victory in Republican politics. You can be a white nationalist, but you can't be an overt white nationalist. I know this sounds cynical, but it is not! The line of what was acceptable before tonight included Steve King; now he is over the line

— Pinboard (@Pinboard) June 3, 2020

I am sure this is not the way J.D. wanted to unseat King, but the openly white nationalist, proudly xenophobic, and thoroughly vile congressman will not be returning to D.C. in 2021 because he put in the work. I hope you will continue to support him now. https://t.co/dTDHICNkHg

— Pinboard (@Pinboard) June 3, 2020

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Previous Post: « Repubs in Disarray! Open Thread: Weensy Little Cowards, Every One
Next Post: Symptom checks, barn doors and the RNC convention »

Reader Interactions

15Comments

  1. 1.

    hells littlest angel

    June 3, 2020 at 10:35 am

    Now King is free to become the new Acting Secretary of Homeland Security. I’m going to hold off celebrating until he’s in a box.

  2. 2.

    dr. bloor

    June 3, 2020 at 10:42 am

    Ultimately, this is a normative victory in Republican politics. You can be a white nationalist, but you can’t be an overt white nationalist. I know this sounds cynical, but it is not! The line of what was acceptable before tonight included Steve King; now he is over the line

    This is the correct takeaway.  One spokesperson in a PAC opposing him was quite clear that they were reluctant to do so, but that King had lost all power in DC to bring home the bacon to Iowans because of his comments.  No criticism of the comments themselves.

  3. 3.

    hells littlest angel

    June 3, 2020 at 10:44 am

    @dr. bloor: When right-wingers turn on their own over racism, it’s never because of the racism, but because they “went too far.”

  4. 4.

    Just Chuck

    June 3, 2020 at 10:46 am

    Most certainly a deliberate choice in photos, but doesn’t King look a lot like Putin?

  5. 5.

    Frankensteinbeck

    June 3, 2020 at 10:47 am

    Huh.  Okay.  I am opening the possibility that enough Republican voters to matter have had their fill of red meat and would like to go back to thinly disguised dog whistles, please.

  6. 6.

    MisterForkbeard

    June 3, 2020 at 10:50 am

    @dr. bloor: Not to mention that King didn’t just make these ‘racially charged’ comments recently. He’s been doing it for decades! Republicans didn’t mind until he… said pretty much the same thing he usually did, but media paid attention for once.

    Being a white nationalist is fine with Republicans – even has benefits. Brings certain voters inside the tent that they really need. But you can’t say it so loudly that the media can’t pretend.

  7. 7.

    WereBear

    June 3, 2020 at 11:04 am

    King has been in my animal rights crosshairs for a long time now, thanks to his despicable upholding of inhumane and unsanitary Big Ag practices that are dangerous to all living beings.

    Just a personal angle. He’s always been particularly loathesome, in all ways.

  8. 8.

    lamh36

    June 3, 2020 at 11:10 am

    Awwww shit Chump gonna blow a gasket!!! Get ya popcorn ready!

    “JUST IN: President Barack Obama will address the nation at 5pm EDT today regarding George Floyd’s death and the ongoing protests around the country.”

  9. 9.

    germy

    June 3, 2020 at 11:10 am

    I acknowledge that voting itself does not bring instant change. That it is part of the democratic process, but it is a vital part of the process. When you vote, you not only elect leaders, you also signal the policy-making that you want to see. And to the extent we see voting as an act that, in and of itself, creates change, that’s not only disingenuous, but it is wrongheaded. Because it presumes that people are accountable simply because you ask. Leaders are accountable because you demand and because the constancy of that demand does not relent until change is made.

    But we also have to realize that evil will always dog the heels of good. And so for every good act taken it can be undone unless we stand and remain fervent about the right to vote. That’s why I support the demonstrations, but I think we march in the streets and then we march on ballot boxes.

    New Stacey Abrams interview.
    nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/06/stacey-abrams-on-the-george-floyd-police-brutality-protests.html

  10. 10.

    rikyrah

    June 3, 2020 at 11:15 am

    This gif is me watching this???

    Shout out to this guy for cussing out the LAPD with the chef's kiss of "I yield my time fcuk you". I've mastered the art of a 140 seconds cuss out, but 18 seconds is a special talent. ✊?pic.twitter.com/1nOssdZiF7— BlackWomenViews (@blackwomenviews) June 3, 2020

  11. 11.

    TS (the original)

    June 3, 2020 at 11:41 am

    Off topic: Gov Cuomo is quoting from the Bible to trump.

  12. 12.

    acallidryas

    June 3, 2020 at 11:54 am

    “…. Support for King started to evaporate last year after he made racially offensive remarks that forced national Republicans to distance themselves from the conservative Iowa firebrand.”

    Racially offensive remarks are Steve King’s brand. It’s who he is. King’s support started to evaporate last year after he stopped pretending and decided to go full KKK.

  13. 13.

    mad citizen

    June 3, 2020 at 12:03 pm

    @lamh36: Thanks for the alert!  I searched on “Obama to address nation”, but still there are media outlets reporting it that way–I love it!  5 p.m. is perfect timing for trump to fume about it all evening, for the evening cable news shows, and the old peoples’ evening news shows (for me sometimes).

  14. 14.

    Nelle

    June 3, 2020 at 2:15 pm

    Don’t celebrate too soon.  Teenagers is a total Trump snake, promising to support Trump more effectively.  Send $$ to Scholten.

  15. 15.

    JaneE

    June 3, 2020 at 2:20 pm

    Now if the GOP would just turn on Donald Trump.  LOL

    King lost because he couldn’t bring home the pork anymore.  They didn’t have a problem with the racism, just the response of Congress to it.

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