GOP Now a “Proud Criminal Enterprise” (Seems so) With These Four Candidates

Crooks and Criminals Я Us, Inc.

(RNC-certified)

Right up front – yes, the voters are the ones who always should decide elections, and yes, rules for candidates are important, as well as voter education as this post intends. 

Thus by way of an introduction, here is a simple pop quiz:

Q:  Can a convicted felon run and serve in Congress?

A:  Short answer is yes they can (proviso follows).

Long answer: The Constitution allows a convicted felon, such as former Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) then in the Senate and convicted in did run for another term in 2008, but he lost. 

In essence had he won, it would have been up the Senate or if a House race, IAW with their rules, to have decided whether or not the person could serve, even after winning. As for state offices, note that they have different laws that apply.

So, yes, it is possible for a felon to serve in the U.S. Congress – but the House and Senate can vote to expel any member that colleagues deem unfit or unqualified to serve as their body rules allow which would cancel the will the voters who put them in office – how ironic is that?

This story: Four convicted criminals are running for Republican seats in Congress – the top of that list is: Former AZ sheriff, Joe Arpaio.

1.  Arpaio wants to replace retiring Sen. Jeff Flake. Arpaio was convicted of misdemeanor criminal court contempt in July 2017 for defying a court order requiring him to stop illegally detaining people suspected of being undocumented immigrants based on their race. He was pardoned by Trump one month later.

Three other convicted criminals running for office as Republicans make that total four – those three are:

2. Don Blankenship (R-WV), the former head of the coal mining company Massey Energy who is running in the Republican primary to challenge Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) – he served one year in prison for a misdemeanor conviction for conspiring to evade safety laws after the death of 29 miners at his Upper Big Branch Mine in 2010.

3. Former Rep. Michael Grimm (R-NY), who is challenging incumbent Rep. Dan Donovan (R-NY) to reclaim the Staten Island congressional seat he once held – he pleaded guilty to of felony tax evasion in 2014.

4. Rep. Greg Gianforte (R-MT), who is running for re-election – he last year also pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault for body-slamming a reporter days before winning a 2017 special election. The RNC says it supports Donovan over Grimm and is backing Gianforte, who is the only one of these convicted candidates currently in office – they have not endorsed the WV and AZ races yet.

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Noteworthy, only one Democrat with a criminal record is running for office and that is David Alcorn (D-NM) convicted of stalking, who is one of nine DEM candidates for the party’s nomination in NM 2nd congressional district.

Also noteworthy is this: The DCCC (DEM Congressional Campaign Committee) will NOT support Alcorn, saying: “He is not fit to run for office.”

My 2 cents: Good for the DCCC, so will the RNC follow suit and that example? We shall see – but don’t count on it.

Leave it up the voters with no RNC or DNC support – good rational policy – then we shall see should anyone of win.

So, 2018 should be a barn burner mid-term election cycle. However, mid-terms have historically low turnout, but there are exceptions – this cycle could top that list.

So, stay tuned and thanks for stopping by.