Dear John,

Next Tuesday, June 7, is a big primary day, with voters in seven states heading to the polls: California, Iowa, Mississippi, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, and South Dakota. In all but two of those states, we’ve identified candidates who meet our criteria for radicalism.

Here’s a small sample of these candidates and some of the reasons why they made the cut for the Renew America Foundation’s Extremist Tracker:

Scott Giblin (Candidate, U.S. House, CA-04): On Jan. 6, 2021, Giblin took to social media to applaud people who participated in the Capitol insurrection. He even asked fellow Facebook users to post their pictures and videos of the riot in the comments.

Nick Taurus (Candidate, U.S. House, CA-40): Taurus said the Republican Party should halt outreach to the Black, Latino, and LGBTQ communities, because “we have had our token and affirmative action candidates” and “how has that turned out for us?”

Cordie Williams (Candidate, U.S. Senate, CA): Williams was present at the Capitol insurrection on Jan. 6, and has called on Americans to arm themselves for an upcoming civil war. He also has been captured on video chanting the QAnon slogan and pandering to Donald Trump for his endorsement. 

Rep. Steven Palazzo (Congressman, U.S. House, MS-04): Palazzo voted against certifying Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential win. He also is under investigation for questionable spending of campaign funds.

Tricia Flanagan (Candidate, U.S. House, NJ-04): Flanagan filed a petition to run in New Jersey’s 4th District, but she did not qualify, as more than 100 of her signatures were allegedly invalid. Though she was subsequently knocked off the ballot, she’s now running a write-in campaign. She believes Joe Biden helped steal the 2020 election, is involved with the QAnon conspiracy theory, and openly spreads COVID-19 disinformation. Flanagan also traffics in racism, claiming “he's not one of us” about Democratic Rep. Andy Kim, who is Asian-American.

Billy Prempeh (Candidate, U.S. House, NJ-09): Prempeh not only spreads 2020 election results conspiracies but also has shared the QAnon slogan, posed with a Q flag, and discussed QAnon conspiracy theories in a video.

Gov. Kristi Noem (Governor, South Dakota): Noem has pushed election conspiracy theories, claiming that computer glitches in Michigan changed votes and that dead people were voting in Pennsylvania. She also signed on to the Brnovich lawsuit, which challenged the 2020 presidential election results. In recent days, she hired controversial former Trump campaign advisor Corey Lewandowski to help run her campaign.

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