Extremist have taken over the Republican Party

Voters can stop them from taking over the country

Photo by Colin Lloyd on Unsplash

In primaries being held across the country, leading Republican candidates for U.S. Senate, governor, and other top elective office are expressing extremists’ views.

Their extremism has gone beyond repeating the lie by former President Donald Trump that the 2020 U.S. presidential election was stolen, despite numerous court rulings and the findings by state election officials including Republicans.

Their extremism goes beyond promoting the falsehood that left-wing activists or the FBI were behind the attack on the U.S. Capitol last year.

The Republican candidates winning primaries or leading in the polls are going to a new level of extremism.

For example, in the Republican primary for governor of Pennsylvania, The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that “high-profile Republican candidates for statewide office are treating talk of a global satanic blood cult like regular campaigning.”

A far-right Christian conference called “Patriots Arise for God and Country” in Gettysburg drew State Sen. Doug Mastriano, a GOP front-runner for Pennsylvania governor, and Teddy Daniels, a candidate for lieutenant governor, reports the Inquirer.

At the conference, organizers played a video claiming the world is experiencing a great awakening that will expose “ritual child sacrifice” and a “global satanic blood cult,” reports the Inquirer.

These are theories that mirror those espoused by followers of QAnon, who believe that a global cabal of Democrats and elites is trafficking children for sex and engaged in other demonic activity. Images associated with the conspiracy theory were displayed during the violent Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack. 

Mastriano, who has consistently led the polls in the Republican field of gubernatorial candidates, raised money for his campaign at the fringe event.

The congressional committee investigating the Capitol attack has subpoenaed Mastriano for documents and testimony about his involvement in efforts to overturn Trump’s loss to Joe Biden.

In Arizona: The likely gubernatorial candidate, Kari Lake, who has denied the results of the 2020 presidential election, has proposed imprisoning the Secretary of State, who is a Democrat. 

Mark Finchem, a Republican running for the Secretary of State office, is a QAnon conspiracy theorist and self-proclaimed member of the far-right Oath Keepers.

In Ohio: Trump endorsed candidate J.D. Vance, last week won the Republican primary for U.S. Senate. Vance recently said that if Trump becomes president again after 2024, he should "Fire every single mid-level bureaucrat, every civil servant in the administrative state" and "replace them with our people.? He says that to accomplish the right's goals, "we're going to have to get pretty wild, and pretty far out there." 

In Wisconsin: Republicans there are still investigating the 2020 election. Their probe was scheduled to end, but after Trump threatened the speaker of the assembly with a primary challenge, he quickly announced that it would continue.

In Michigan: Kristina Karamo the newly chosen Republican candidate for Secretary of State has identified Beyonće, Cardi B, Ariana Grande, Billie Eilish as tools of satanic influence. Karamo, who is Black, expressed her views on her own podcast in 2020. Karamo is a part-time college professor who was a poll challenger in Detroit during the 2020 election and falsely claims she saw votes stolen from Trump and given to Biden, an accusation that the courts have refuted. Karamo, who is backed by Trump, won the Michigan Republican Party primary last month. 

The problem is not just that these candidates are expressing fringe views, but that these extremists’ views are coming from candidates running for top elective office: Senator, Governor and like Karamo, Secretary of State, the state officer in charge of election administration. And most are poised to win the primary.

Republicans are expected to make significant gains in the midterm elections in November. The opposition party usually does well in an off-year election and Biden’s low popularity is not helping Democrats running in the midterms. The midterms will determine whether Democrats or Republicans will control state houses and Congress.

With rising inflation, the war in Ukraine and now the stunning revelation that the Supreme Court may soon overturn its landmark decision on abortion rights, the stakes are high as Americans prepare to go to the polls. 

What happens in November depends on voter registration efforts now and voter mobilization in the fall. 

Some will argue that the Democrats have their own share of extremists on the left. But left-leaning Democrats aren’t pushing conspiracy theories and they are not in charge of the party. 

Extremists have taken over the Republican Party. 

A huge voter turnout in November can stop them from taking over the country.

Irv Randolph is an award-winning journalist and political commentator. The Randolph Report is a weekly newsletter on politics, culture and career and professional development relevant to African Americans. Subscribe for free and get the latest articles sent directly to your inbox.