I’m heading out the door, but this caught my eye, and thought I needed to share. If it was already covered, my apologies, I missed it. But the takeaway is ROE, ROE, ROE the VOTE all the way to November.
— 𝐁𝐞𝐤𝐬 (@antifaoperative) August 24, 2022
With the fight over abortion rights looming large over the midterm elections, voters in Florida ousted two prominent anti-abortion elected officials in separate races on Tuesday.
Florida Rep. James Bush lost his reelection bid, a notable defeat for the sole Democrat in the state legislature who voted on a 15-week abortion ban and the anti-LGBTQ “Don’t Say Gay” bill.
His opponent, 37-year-old lawyer Ashley Gantt, ran on a platform focused on affordable housing, public education, and criminal justice reform. Gantt, an attorney and former public school teacher, has criticized Bush for siding with Republicans on the abortion ban and the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, which bars “classroom discussion about sexual orientation or gender identity.”
“As a Black woman, I was offended when he voted to restrict my rights, our right to make decisions over our bodies,” she said last week. “As a former teacher, I was insulted that he voted to inject Tallahassee extremism into our classrooms and deny local control over our school systems.”
Gantt and Bush were the only two candidates vying for District 109. As the winner of the Democratic primary, Gantt is now the representative-elect.
Bush was first elected to the Florida state House in 1992. He was elected again in 2008, then in 2018. His penchant for supporting Republican-sponsored bills drew the ire of his fellow Democrats, some of whom publicly voiced their support for Gantt in the election; Democratic state Sen. Jason Pizzo recently accused him of “voting against Democratic values and kissing the Governor’s ass – all day, everyday.”
Florida voters also ousted Jared Smith, an incumbent circuit judge for Hillsborough County who gained notoriety for rejecting a teenager’s request for an abortion because her grades were low.
The race between Smith and his opponent, Nancy Jacobs, was relatively contentious for a typically low-key nonpartisan judgeship election, the Tampa Bay Times reported.
Smith had denied a 17-year-old seeking an abortion without parental consent in January this year on the basis that her grades were low and that she lacked “intelligence or credibility,” and was therefore not mature enough to get an abortion. An appeals court later overturned his ruling.
Jacobs did not directly criticize Smith over his decision (Florida bars judicial candidates from making public statements on legal issues), but she has shared posts on Facebook regarding the ruling.
In a statement to BuzzFeed News, Jacobs said she looked forward to taking the bench in January and “ensuring that the people of Hillsborough County who enter my courtroom are treated with respect, dignity, and integrity every day.”
She said that Smith’s decision in the abortion case was possibly “one factor among many in voters’ decisions on whom to cast their ballots for in this race” given that it made national headlines.
Smith had made his Christian faith central to his reelection campaign. His wife, Suzette Smith, once told supporters that Jacobs, who is Jewish, “needs Jesus.”
“We pray for her. She needs Jesus,” Suzette Smith said. “To deny God and to deny the Bible is a person that’s — the heart is very hard toward God.”
Jacobs called the comments “troubling” and accused the couple of “using their religion to insult and disparage the faith of an opposing candidate.”
Florida is set up for a riveting general election in November, with abortion rights expected to be a central issue in races all the way up to the gubernatorial election.
Charlie Crist, a former Republican governor, won the Democratic primary on Tuesday, setting up a challenge against Gov. Ron DeSantis. Crist fended off accusations of being “pro-life” from his primary opponent, Nikki Fried, arguing that he struck down anti-abortion bills during his time in office.
Aug. 24, 2022, at 18:17 PM
trollhattan
Holy hell–“you’re not smrt enuf to get anbortion but totally fit to be a mom”?
Barbara
@trollhattan: Because women are “born” to be mothers.
rikyrah
Great answer and on point
Kenny BooYah! 🖖🏾 (@KwikWarren) tweeted at 3:42 PM on Wed, Aug 24, 2022: How did a criminal, immoral shitweasel like donald trump scam his way into being worshiped—even deified—by millions and millions of poor&middle class Americans?! Many of whom are our friends, neighbors, co-workers and family members…who we thought had good got damn sense! https://t.co/y2VNk1B4ly
Lauri Smalls (@LauriSmalls) tweeted at 6:34 AM on Thu, Aug 25, 2022: I am convinced they worship him because his actions represent everything they wish they could do. Lie cheat steal with impunity. You worship what you want to emulate (https://twitter.com/LauriSmalls/status/1562765291452452865?t=XI75QFMJpv8t1FL2rhsnJg&s=03)
Spanky
@trollhattan: Aren’t these the same people that wanted to sterilize mentally incompetent people?
Old School
Does this happen a lot in Florida?
This judge made his decision back in January and was overturned by an appeals court.
The one that made the press last week was a 16-year-old who is still pregnant.
Jackie
@trollhattan: She’s apparently *smart enough* to be a mom.🤦🏼♀️
WereBear
@trollhattan: Forget it, Jake. It’s Florida.
HumboldtBlue
New ad aimed at Mehmet Oz is out and it’s gotta sting.
Felanius Kootea
@HumboldtBlue: Don’t like that ad. Prefer Fetterman’s approach.
frosty fred
@Felanius Kootea: Definitely agree. (With you, not the ad.)
Spanky
@HumboldtBlue: OW!
“Paid for by Really American PAC”. Hmmmm.
Urza
@HumboldtBlue: That is a good ad to depress Republican turnout. I can see where the Twitterati are whining it might be anti-muslim, but given that its against a specific branch controlled by Erdogan I’m ok with it.
Also, why the hell is it not a law, preferably in the Constitution, that no Senator or House member or high ranking ANYTHING must renounce their citizenship to other nations in order to serve. I guess they didn’t have such a thing as dual citizenship in the 1700s, but it still seems like a legit concern today.
HumboldtBlue
@Felanius Kootea:
I find the final image, the Muslim holding the automatic weapon, rather off-putting. But on the other hand, fuck Oz.
@Spanky: @Urza:
One commenter said it’s funded by Greeks and Armenians through an American PAC.
Old School
@Spanky: Not familiar with Really American PAC, but they are running “Against” ads targeting a number of Republicans. Nothing over six figures though.
bbleh
@HumboldtBlue: Yeah I kinda don’t think BJ readers are exactly representative of the target demographic for this one ..
(And I did see something in one of the final frames, “Hellenic” something, which definitely suggests connections to the Greek/Greek-heritage community.)
RaflW
“He voted to inject Tallahassee extremism into our classrooms” is a great line. Congrats to Ms. Gantt!
RaflW
Oz has barely renounced his New Jersey residency. Why cut ties with Turkey?
(Is that clip at the end with him pushing a magazine into a gun legit? What’s it from?)
Spanky
@bbleh: What could the Greeks possibly have against the Turks?
(//, obvs)
Ken
@Urza: The constitution does bar people in office from accepting titles of nobility from foreign states. I would suggest asking the Queen for a favor and getting TFG knighted to keep him out of office — but the emoluments clause is in the same list, and we saw how much that mattered.
HumboldtBlue
@RaflW:
Pretty sure Oz did one of those GOP candidates with a gun ad.
bjacques
@HumboldtBlue: I like that Armenians are onboard with this. By the way, the legendary Serdar Argic would have you know THE SO-CALLED ARMENIAN GENOCIDE WAS A LIE!1!!
just keeping the legend of Col. Argic alive. He was an online presence during the heyday of usenet newsgroups and could be summoned anytime, day or night, by mentioning said genocide. Turned out he was some sort of Grey Wolf cub, staying on a student visa, with access to a university internet account. He finally disappeared from usenet because the feds caught him and booted him out of the country.
Calouste
@rikyrah:
They’re not my friends
And that’s why.
Geminid
@HumboldtBlue: I can see how Greek-and Armenian-Americans might want to get their licks in against Turkiye and a Turkish American. But in Oz’s case, they’re beating a dead horse.
Spanky
@Geminid: Not dead enough!
Alison Rose 💙🌻💛
It’s so fun being a lady.
raven
@HumboldtBlue: That’s OZ slapping in a magazine.
Geminid
@Spanky: Come November, Doctor Oz will be Yellow Brick Road-kill.
HumboldtBlue
“Oz has ties to everything except Pennsylvania.”
Hah!
@raven:
Oh, I understand that, but the image itself is of the Muslim terrorist canard that fuels the GOP base.
Another Scott
@rikyrah:
DeLong gives some interesting historical context on the battle to fight fascism in democratic societies:
A taste:
DeLong’s new book sounds fascinating.
Cheers,
Scott.
Another Scott
@HumboldtBlue: Oooh. That’s good.
Cheers,
Scott.
sab
@trollhattan: And every potential adoptive parent wants a child from a mom who is an idiot.
Brachiator
@Another Scott:
Gee, I thought that democratic politics went further back than 1832 or 1848.
Still, a provocative argument.
HumboldtBlue
Huh, it appears there may trouble brewing for Project Veritas.
Guilty pleas for two people who stole Ashley Biden’s diary (among other property) and sold it to Project Veritas
And for the academics among us:
SiubhanDuinne
I know it shouldn’t surprise me at all, but I’m still flabbergasted whenever I come across shit like this:
Alison Rose 💙🌻💛
@SiubhanDuinne: I mean, Jesus was also a Jew, so I’m pretty sure he’s cool with us.
Plus the Pope said Jews are cool and have our own special ticket to heaven, so there’s that.
Elizabelle
@SiubhanDuinne: Yup. Suzette Smith est un imbecile. Calls into question a lot of “Judge” Smith’s rulings, if that’s how they talk at home. How arrogant. How ignorant.
Scout211
@SiubhanDuinne: I left you a message downstairs. You are not alone with that google link glitch. It has happened to me on my iPad several times.
SiubhanDuinne
@Elizabelle:
This. Also, how offensive.
SiubhanDuinne
@Scout211:
Thank you very much, both for your reassuring comment downstairs and also for letting me know about it.
Eunicecycle
@HumboldtBlue: who have a very deep grudge against Turkey!
Uncle Cosmo
@Spanky: “Armenian National Committee of America.” Y’think mebbe they might have a tiny amount of animus toward a Turkish citizen like Mehmet** the Oz?
Too bad The BOZO isn’t running in California – LA is (and Fresno was until the 1960s) by population the second largest Armenian city in the world, and they’d be ripping him a new ապուշ (pislik in Turkish) on an hourly basis.
** Just FTR, the Turkish form of Mohammed.
wv blondie
Not to spoil the theme of this post, but … https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/08/25/ny10-niou-goldman-wfp/
Niou, who admittedly is a very close second to Dan Goldman, is considering running in November as the Working Families Party candidate. I guess purity is more important than, y’know, actually holding that seat for a Democratic House.
sab
@Old School: She should deliver in a couple of weeks.
Basically, if something needs to be ajudicated then justice denied in many cases.
Geminid
@wv blondie: That’s a safe Democratic seat no matter who runs on the WFP ballot line. But this is a good example of how some progressives have only a conditional loyalty to the Democratic party.
Another telling aspect of the NY 10-CD primary was the lack of support for Rep. Mondaire Jones from some “progressive” networks. They talked up Mr. Jones when they hoped that he would compete with Sean Patrick Maloney for the nomination in the new district they shared. When Mondaire Jones did not do what was wanted and chose to compete in the open 10th CD, a lot of his former proponents ghosted him.
Miss Bianca
@Alison Rose 💙🌻💛: Yeah, well, what does the *Pope* know, right?
eddie blake
@Geminid: that’s my district now. which sucks, bc i really liked having nadler as my rep.
i voted for niou, but what she’s doing now is a dick move, making me regret my vote a little.
goldman will be ok as a rep
eta-i was turned off by jones’ shameless carpetbagging.
brantl
@Ken: They could appoint him Grand DyppeShyte to the Monarchy.
Joe Falco
@SiubhanDuinne:
As is so often the case, Republicans and Christians like Smith will throw around that meaningless phrase “Judeo-Christian” up until the point there is a Jewish candidate standing in the way of their sought-after Christian theocracy.