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Dear Peter,
It may be summer, but don’t let the bright sun fool you. Darker forces are still on the move. On Tuesday, Maryland held its primary election, and three of the four radicals we identified in the state won their elections and will move on to the general election in November.
- Two are 2020 election deniers.
- One participated in the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection.
- One is a QAnon supporter.
- One is affiliated with a racist hate group.
Here’s some more information about these candidates:
Dan Cox (Candidate, Governor, Maryland): Cox, who was endorsed by Donald Trump, defeated his Republican opponent, Kelly Schulz, in the race for governor. He organized buses to take protesters to the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, called former Vice President Mike Pence a “traitor,” and is described by current Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan as a “QAnon conspiracy theorist.” Cox’s campaign was aided by Democratic groups.
Gordana Schifanelli (Candidate, Lt. Governor, Maryland): Running alongside Cox for lieutenant governor, Schifanelli believes President Biden “stole” the 2020 presidential election, and that Trump is the rightful winner. She is the founder of the Kent Island Patriots, a group that used its platform to force the resignation of a former Queen Anne’s County school superintendent who had called for better dialogue on racism.
Michael Peroutka (Candidate, Attorney General, Maryland): Peroutka is a neo-Confederate and Christian nationalist who served on the board of the League of the South—which believes the Southern states should secede from the U.S.—from 2012 to 2014. He has described the separation of church and state as the “great lie,” and has argued for dismantling public education, which he has denounced as “the 10th plank in the Communist Manifesto.”
That’s quite a group. And the next primary day, August 2, looks to be another potential bonanza for radicals. Voters in Arizona, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, and Washington will head to the polls and decide the electoral fates of the likes of Blake Masters (Candidate, U.S. Senate, Arizona), Kari Lake(Candidate, Governor, Arizona), Kristina Karamo (Candidate, Secretary of State, Michigan), Matthew DePerno (Candidate, Attorney General, Michigan), Eric Greitens (Candidate, U.S. Senate, Missouri), Eric Schmitt (Candidate, U.S. Senate, Missouri), Joe Kent (Candidate, U.S. House, WA-03), Heidi St. John(Candidate, U.S. House, WA-03), and many others.
For the full list of radical candidates we’re tracking in these states and across the country, please visit the Renew America Foundation’s Extremist Tracker.
It is the mission of the Renew America Movement to build a national cross-partisan coalition that stands up for the principles that make our nation strong. We shine a light on radicalism and counter it with a unifying and constructive message. Please click here to support our work.
Renew America Movement
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