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WESTLAKE, Ohio Michael Johns doesnt want to see Democrats destroy our school system from the inside out, which is why he ran for a seat this year on his local school board.

The majority of all the tax money goes to the schools ... thats why the Democrats want to control it, Johns, 62, said at a recent GOP meeting in this northeast Ohio suburb.

Johns, a father of two teens and owner of a manufacturing business, didnt win his race in Parma, Ohio, a Cleveland suburb. But the issues that prompted him to run what he sees as not enough parental control and too much Democratic control on public school boards arent resolved, and he predicts they will be a deciding factor in how he votes in future statewide GOP primaries that mostly have nothing to do with his school board.

Weve allowed our control to get too far away from us, Johns told HuffPost after the meeting. Everything is decided without us having any say whatsoever.

Earlier this month, Republican Glenn Youngkin won the Virginia governors race by appealing to parents and their anger toward public schools, which exploded during the pandemic. That race, and others showing a GOP resurgence in swing-prone suburbs, are seen as foreshadowing a brutal midterm election for Democrats. With the election less than a year away, Republicans are hoping to build on the conditions and messaging that worked for them this year President Joe Bidens weak poll numbers, inflation, supply chain snags and the reckoning over public education.

In GOP races up and down the ballot, broadly opposing the perceived teaching of critical race theory and mask mandates has become standard fare for Republicans. CRT has origins in academia, but Republicans have turned critical race theory into a catchall term for essentially any teachings having to do with racism and history in public schools. Districts across the country have pushed back, arguing theres no actual CRT in elementary, middle or high school curricula.

Still, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a possible 2024 presidential candidate, led a successful campaign to ban purported CRT in schools, calling it state-sanctioned racism. Nevada Senate hopeful Adam Laxalt, who is trying to oust a vulnerable Democratic incumbent, has pledged to implement a system to let parents report supposed instances of CRT directly to his office, according to Townhall, a right-wing news site.

At the same time, Democrats are trying to figure out how to counter Republicans on race issues, particularly since in Youngkins contest, the emphasis on CRT and other race-coded messaging didnt dampen his support among voters of color.

This should terrify Democrats. With our democracy on the line, we have to forge an effective counterattack on race while rethinking the false choice between mobilizing base voters or persuading swing voters, Democratic activist Tory Gavito and former Sen. Harry Reid staffer Adam Jentleson wrote in a post-election New York Times op-ed.

In Ohio, Republican Senate candidate Jane Timken made campaign contributions to more than 40 school board candidates running on conservative platforms. About half of them won. Just after this months election, Timken began a parents first listening tour aimed at prospective supporters with an eye toward education.

At a bar and grill in Westlake recently, Timken demonstrated how one candidate is trying to translate the grassroots energy around parental rights into a statewide primary win.

Timken, a mother of two adult children, said she sensed the parental uprising brewing in the spring, before it erupted nationally. At the time, many school buildings were still closed and backlash to CRT was relatively new.

Long before it became a national topic, I was listening to parents and I was talking to them. They came to me and said, Do you know whats happening in our schools? Because the pandemic opened peoples eyes. There was an awakening in parents, Timken told the group as they snacked on spicy chicken wings in the restaurants tight back room.

Let me tell you, they poked the mama and papa bears, she said. Parents want to have a say in their childrens education.

After the event, Timken brought up the clumsy debate answer that Republicans believe ultimately sank Youngkins Democratic opponent, Terry McAuliffe, in the governors race.

Terry McAuliffe said the quiet part out loud that parents shouldnt have any say in what their kids are being taught in schools, Timken told HuffPost, referring to a comment McAuliffe made about why he opposed parents removing books from school libraries. I think the Democrats have weaponized this. You see so many caring people who just want to have a say in their childrens education.

For some parents, it was the mask mandates and virtual learning that pushed them over the edge. For others, it was the teaching of anti-racist curricula and sex education, and allowing students to use bathrooms that best match their gender identity, not necessarily the gender they were assigned at birth.

These issues arent outwardly the same, but underpinning them is the tug-of-war over parental rights that has become the newest battlefront for the two parties. Republicans want more parental oversight in public education; Democrats want to empower teachers and experts. Democrats embrace diversity and inclusion efforts; Republicans view them skeptically and say they create more division.

Parental rights is a big issue, said Rick Cyngier, who has been a school board member in Brooklyn, Ohio, for the past 10 years. He was one of the candidates who ran this year with the backing of a conservative Christian group, Ohio Value Voters, whose anti-CRT, pro-parents rights slate, like others nationwide, had mixed success.

I put on my signs, No CRT. No woke culture. No cancel culture. Baseline education. People need to know where were coming from, Cyngier, a mortgage loan officer, said.

Among the things Timken said parents have complained about to her recently: students forced to answer pronoun questionnaires and learn comprehensive sex education without parental consent. Timken described a district in central Ohio where a woman named Miss Rosemary, who wasnt a certified teacher, was brought into classrooms to teach sex education to elementary school students, which shocked and angered parents, she said.

Most of the people at Timkens midday event last Thursday, who skewed older and white, had concerns that straddled local and national issues. They were worried about job prospects for graduates, student loan debt and high school graduates being steered toward expensive liberal arts degrees instead of more practical vocational training.

They complained that younger people would rather stay home and collect government money than enter the workforce even though the extra federal unemployment payment that helped people who lost their jobs during the pandemic expired in September, and unemployment is trending lower.

Were going to wake up in a nightmare eventually, said Lucy Stickan, a local GOP officer in her 50s who worries that younger generations havent been able to build wealth like their parents and grandparents. These kids better get back in trades and they better get back to work ... Sometimes people have to suffer before they learn the truth, and unfortunately thats what happened with our country.

Johns, the former school board candidate, told Timken that locally, he fears Democrats overseeing large municipal budgets and outperforming Republicans in early absentee voting.

Nationally, he objects to Bidens enhanced child tax credit which reduced child poverty by 40% in July, according to one study going to poor families that dont earn any income or dont make enough to file a federal tax return.

What good is the tax credit when you havent paid any taxes? Johns said. If youve paid no taxes, you should reserve that for the day you actually earn some money and reduce your tax bill.

Stickan encouraged school board candidates, even the ones like Johns who didnt win, to keep at it, seeing their movement as a new avenue for the party to attract voters and attention.

Ive been involved for a long time and I dont remember ever seeing this interest in schools, she said. So I kind of think we should take these lemons and make lemonade.

See more here:
The Pandemic Caused A Parental 'Awakening.' Republicans Hope They Don't Sleep On 2022. - HuffPost

A key group of Republican attorneys general that donated $150,000 to co-sponsor the 6 January rally where Donald Trump pushed his false claims of election fraud before the Capitol attack could draw scrutiny from a House committee investigating the events on or in the lead-up to the riot.

The group a part of the Republican Attorneys General Association (Raga) called the Rule of Law Defense Fund has attracted strong criticism from watchdogs and ex-prosecutors even as Raga looks forward to next years midterm elections and many of its members are fighting on numerous fronts against Joe Bidens agenda.

The controversy around Raga appears to be yet another way that Trump and his supporters have increased their grip on more mainstream elements of the Republican party, and involved them in efforts to further their agenda.

The RLDF, the policy arm of Raga, ponied up $150,000 for the 6 January rally, and arranged robocalls the day before informing people that we will march to the Capitol and tell Congress to stop the steal, a message that was probably reinforced by Texass attorney general, Ken Paxton, who told Trumps rally: We will not quit fighting.

Watchdog criticism of the Raga policy arm that backed the rally stresses that the groups funding and robocalls occurred after dozens of court rulings rejected Trumps claims of fraud. They say it undermines respect for the nations laws, as well as departing from the groups main focus of helping get Republican attorneys general elected.

Further, the rally funding and robocalls by the RLDF sparked resignations of high-level officials, including the Raga chairman, the Georgia attorney general, who broached concern about the groups direction when he stepped down.

The controversies about Ragas rally activities come as the group has received a hefty $5.5m from the dark money Concord Fund since the start of 2020, which can help Republican attorneys general in the 2022 elections, and as many Republican attorneys general including Paxton have filed lawsuits to thwart Bidens energy, immigration and vaccine policies.

The $150,000 check that the RLDF donated to the rally came from the Publix supermarket heir Julie Jenkins Fancelli, funds that ProPublica reported were arranged by the Republican fundraiser Caroline Wren, a VIP adviser to the rally who has been subpoenaed by the House committee investigating the 6 January Capitol attack.

Asked about scrutiny of Raga and its big donation for the rally, a House select committee spokesperson told the Guardian that it is seeking information about a number of events that took place in the lead-up to the 6 January attack, including details about who planned, coordinated, paid, or received funds related to those events.

Some watchdog groups deplore Ragas role in the rally. It was clear before 6 January that the planned rally was based on lies, partisanship, and disrespect for the rule of law, Austin Evers, the executive director of American Oversight said in a statement.

Thats what Raga and its corporate sponsors chose to fund. The fact that the rally turned into a violent assault on democracy itself makes Ragas involvement worse Raga and its funders should be held accountable.

Likewise, some ex-prosecutors express strong concerns about the message that the robocalls by Ragas political arm conveyed.

Attorneys general are supposed to support adherence to the law, said Paul Pelletier, a former acting chief of the fraud section at the DoJ. By the time of the rally every court in the country had affirmed the lawfulness of the election results and had specifically rejected charges of fraud. At that stage, it seems Raga, by urging protesters to stop the steal, was simply promoting an unlawful attack on our democracy the antithesis of their mission.

Ragas then executive director, who resigned soon after the Capitol attack, denounced the violence by the mob, which resulted in several deaths and ore than 140 injured police officers, and in a sweeping denial stated that neither Raga nor the RLDF had any involvement in the planning, sponsoring or the organization of the protest.

But campaign finance watchdogs dont buy Ragas denial.

Ragas policy arm and other groups helped organize a rally that preceded a riot and an attack on democracy, said Sheila Krumholz, the executive director of Open Secrets.

The fallout at Raga over its 6 January role increased in April when Chris Carr, the Georgia AG who chaired the overall group, announced suddenly he was stepping down as chair, and noted a significant difference of opinion about Ragas direction in a resignation letter.

Later in April, Raga announced that Peter Bisbee, who had overseen the RLDF when the robocalls occurred, was being promoted to become Ragas executive director.

Since Biden took office many Raga members, including Paxton and others from Missouri and Louisiana, have filed a wave of lawsuits to block several Biden priorities.

The surge of lawsuits is seen as potentially helpful in the runup to 2022 campaigns when 30 Republican and Democratic attorneys general will be running for re-election after serving four-year terms. In the 2020 elections, Raga for the first time targeted incumbent Democratic attorneys general with ads, and may try to oust Democratic attorneys general who were key Biden allies last year in states such as Pennsylvania and Michigan where Trump and his allies pushed false claims of fraud.

While Raga this year witnessed some corporate backers hold back checks after 6 January, its fundraising was bolstered when it pulled in $2.5m, by far its largest contribution and more than a third of the total raised for the first half of 2021, from the dark money Concord Fund, which the Federalist Society executive Leonard Leo helped create.

Raga also received $3m in 2020 from the Concord Fund.

Raga roped in low-six-figure checks in 2021 from oil and gas giants like Koch Industries and the Anschutz Corp and the Koch-backed Americans for Prosperity.

Over the years, Raga has garnered financial support from industries, including fossil fuels and pharmaceuticals, which GOP AGs have backed in major litigation.

Trump himself is slated to host a fundraiser next month at his Mar-a-Lago club for Paxton, which appears to underscore his gratitude and the tough re-election campaign the former Raga chairman is facing as three Republican challengers to him have emerged. Those opponents are focusing on Paxtons legal problems: he was indicted on securities fraud six years ago and the FBI reportedly has been investigating allegations of bribery and other misconduct.

Last fall, some of Paxtons former deputies accused him of improperly helping an Austin real estate developer and donor, prompting more FBI scrutiny.

Paxton, who has not been charged, has broadly denied any wrongdoing. Paxtons office this August released an unsigned 374-page report rebutting the charges of former aides and claiming he was exonerated, but attorneys for the ex-employees responded the report was full of half truths, outright lies and glaring omissions.

Excerpt from:
Groups 6 January donation shows Trumps grip on attorneys general - The Guardian

To the editor: Republicans in both their recent impressive electoral successes and in their congressional debates have asserted three themes that I hope my Republican friends will be aware of before they vote.

First, of course, is former President Donald Trumps repeated insistence that election fraud led to his defeat. I will suggest in a minute that Trumps assertion is actually a coded message about something deeper and more scary.

Second, the GOPs repeated insistence that the Biden administrations Build Back Better bill is socialism or even communism ignores the fact that those two political philosophies wanted governments to actually run, as opposed to regulate, factories and so forth that they called the means of production. By contrast, even if the original BBB bill had passed it is now close to half its original cost U.S. spending on social, medical and climate issues as a percentage of our gross national product would have been about the same as that of our major European allies.

Third is the fear that critical race theory will be taught in our schools. I believe that I am correct in asserting that no American K-12 school currently teaches this. Nor, I am willing to bet, have many of the theorys critics read what the authors of the theory actually wrote.

Racial fear, I believe, is what unites these three historically inaccurate assertions. Conservative Republicans apparently believe that the Democrats will encourage left-wing intellectuals to teach that whites are bad; pass out massive handouts designed to build an urban, heavily minority base; and then ensure victory by using fraudulent tactics to steal the next election. Unfortunately, that is such a scary thought that it encourages many people to overlook the actual facts. It is also an insult to common sense and basic decency of Republicans and Democrats on both sides of our current, deeply troubling political divide. Please think, folks, before next you vote.

Peter Frost, Williamstown

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Letter: The worrying emerging themes of Republican politics - Berkshire Eagle

LANSING, Mich. Southeast Michigan businessman Kevin Rinke knows hes risking a lot by putting $10 million of his own money into his campaign for Michigan governor.

The Republican candidate also refutes criticism that hes trying to buy an election, calling those claims disingenuous.

Full interview with Kevin Rinke

If you look at this from a business investment, it's not a good investment. Simply put, it's a bad investment, Rinke told FOX 17 in an interview Tuesday. "I'm not looking for a return on this money. I believe this, that I want to show the people of Michigan I have a message. And I want that message to be heard by as many people as possible. So before I ask any Michigander for a dollar, I'm willing to say, 'I'll pay first,' says Rinke.

Rinke, who made a fortune on his family's car dealerships, formally announced his campaign this week, spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on TV and digital ads.

READ MORE: Businessman Kevin Rinke launches campaign for Michigan governor

He says he's made 21 stops across the state, listening to people's concerns about the economy amid the pandemic.

"At the end of the day, a lack of leadership and poor decisions have got us to where we are today and political infighting. And the people don't need more than finger pointing. They need real solutions," says Rinke.

In his first commercial, Rinke drives a classic Pontiac muscle car while comparing incumbent Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to a Yugo, a Yugoslavian-made car widely considered one of the worst automobiles ever made.

Like the terrible socialist system it came from, its a pile of junk, Rinke says in the ad.

I don't believe that the career politician has shown leadership skills, and leadership skills mean that you have to have your legislature work together to provide results that the governor can oversee. [Whitmer's] management of the state and her decision making, I believe, are disastrous, Rinke said in our interview.

Rinke also hits on the same issues conservatives nationwide have highlighted: COVID-19 policies, critical race theory, voter fraud and illegal immigration, similar to the 11 other Republicans vying for the GOP nomination in Michigan.

However, he thinks his successful business background separates himself from the field.

"I think it's real business experience and leadership experience," he added.

While he does not believe last year's election was stolen, he would welcome an endorsement from the former president, who continues to push that unfounded claim.

Aaron Parseghian: It's clear that former President Trump still has a big voice in the Republican party. In the past few weeks, we've seen him endorse state House candidates, continuing to make some unfounded claims that the election was some way stolen from him here in Michigan. How important do you think Trump's endorsement is of a potential candidate like yourself? Do you want it? And do you think the election was stolen?"

Rinke: "Well, I think that any past president has a significant influence on a party. So a candidate running within that party would welcome an endorsement from a past president. Does that mean that everything that President Trump says or does is approved by that candidate? And the answer is, of course not. Kevin Rinke is his own man. In regards to the election, I know what I've been able to gather through normal media outlets. I've read about it. And currently, there is no information that says that the election was stolen. I will say that there are significant irregularities that have been exposed in the past election in Michigan."

RELATED: Trump endorses primary challenger to GOP Rep. Meijer

Right away, Rinkes self-funding puts him ahead of the fundraising totals made by the 11 other candidates vying for the GOP nomination, including former Detroit Police Chief James Craig whom many have pointed to as a favorite in the race, Kalamazoo chiropractor Garret Soldano and Norton Shores conservative media personality Tudor Dixon.

The primary takes place in August of next year, the winner of which will face incumbent Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in November. Whitmer's reelection campaign has raised a record-breaking amount of money, more than $17 million so far this cycle.

"TheMichiganGOPs attempt to coronate James Craig as their #1 pick for the GOP nomination has been a massive failure and now their chaotic primary for governor has an extreme self-funder in the race," says Democratic Governors Association Political Director Marshall Cohen, in response to Rinke entering the race. While the GOP candidates oppose overwhelmingly popular initiatives in order to appeal to the radical right wing of their party, Governor Whitmer is puttingMichiganfirst. Shes focused on fixing the damn roads and has made the largest increase in school funding in the states history without raising taxes," he added.

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Republican Kevin Rinke talks Trump, Whitmer and his $10 million campaign for governor - Fox17

The website of the Oklahoma Republican party has a running countdown to the 2024 presidential election measured in Maga days, Maga hours, Maga minutes and Maga seconds Maga being shorthand for Donald Trumps timeworn slogan, Make America great again.

The state party chairman, John Bennett, a veteran of three combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, has described Islam as a cancer in our nation that needs to be cut out and posted a yellow Star of David on Facebook to liken coronavirus vaccine mandates to the persecution of Jewish people in Nazi Germany.

This is just one illustration of how Republican parties at the state level are going to new extremes in their embrace of Trump, an ominous sign ahead of midterm elections next year and a potential glimpse of the national partys future. Yet the radicalisation often takes place under the radar of the national media.

We are not a swing state and were nowhere near a swing state so no ones looking, said Alicia Andrews, chair of the Oklahoma Democratic party. And because no one is looking at Oklahoma, we are allowed to be way more extreme than a lot of states.

Andrews pointed to the example of a state law passed by the Republican majority in April that grants immunity to drivers who unintentionally injure or kill protesters and stiffens penalties for demonstrators who block public roadways.

Only three states passed it, with Oklahoma being the first, she said. And you know why? Because there wasnt national attention. We were talking about Florida passing it and Texas passing it. No one was even considering what was going on in Oklahoma and it quietly passed in Oklahoma.

Similarly, Andrew argues, while other states were debating critical race theory in schools, in Oklahoma a ban was rammed through with little coverage. Another concern is gerrymandering, the process whereby a party redraws district boundaries for electoral advantage.

Andrews, the first African American to lead the Oklahoma Democratic party, said: Our legislators are in a special session right now to review our maps and they are really eroding an urban core, taking at least 6,000 Hispanic Americans out of an urban district and moving them to a rural district, thus denuding their votes. I didnt think that they could make it worse but they are.

Oklahoma is a deep red state. As of August, its house and senate had 121 Republicans and 28 Democrats. It continues to hold Stop the Steal rallies pushing Trumps big lie that Joe Biden robbed him of victory in the presidential election.

Andrews warns that Republicans in her state are indicative of a national trend.

Their stated strategy is start at the municipal level, take over the state, take over the nation. So while everybodys talking about the infrastructure plan and the Build Back Better plan, theyre rubbing their hands together and making differences in states.

She added: Were like the testing ground for their most radical right exercises, and once they perfect it here, they can take it to other states.

Republican state parties rightward spiral has included promotion of Trumps big lie about electoral fraud, white nationalism and QAnon, an antisemitic conspiracy theory involving Satan-worshipping cannibals and a child sex-trafficking ring. It can find bizarre and disturbing expression.

Arizona staged a sham audit of the 2020 presidential election that only confirmed Bidens victory in the state. Last month in Idaho, when Governor Brad Little was out of the state, his lieutenant, Janice McGeachin, issued an executive order to prevent employers requiring employees be vaccinated against Covid-19. Little rescinded it on his return.

The Wyoming state party central committee this week voted to no longer recognise the congresswoman Liz Cheney daughter of the former vice-president Dick Cheney and a hardline conservative as a Republican, its second formal rebuke for her criticism of Trump and vote to impeach him for his role in the US Capitol attack.

Nina Hebert, communications director of the state Democratic party, said: Wyoming is not exempt from the extremism that Trump has intentionally cultivated and fuelled and continues to court today.

He was a popular figure in Wyoming in the 2016 election and he retains that popularity amongst voters in the state, which I think is the most red in the nation.

Gerrymandering is a longstanding problem, Hebert said, but Trumps gleeful celebration of the 6 January riot has opened floodgates.

They have created situations where Republican-controlled state legislatures have no reason to pretend even that theyre not just trying to hold on to power. This has become something that is acceptable within the Republican party.

The shift has also been evident in policy in Florida, Texas and other states where Republicans have taken aim at abortion access, gun safety, trans and voting rights. Often, zealous officials seem to be trying to outdo one another in outraging liberals, known as owning the libs.

The drift is not confined to red states. When Republicans in California, a Democratic bastion, sought to recall Governor Gavin Newsom, they rallied around a Trumpian populist in the conservative talk radio host Larry Elder rather than a more mainstream figure such as Kevin Faulconer, a former mayor of San Diego.

Kurt Bardella, an adviser to the Democratic National Committee who was once an aide to a leading California Republican, said: To me that was a bellwether. If even a state like California cant get a more moderate, pragmatic Republican party at the state level, theres really no hope for any of the parties in any state at this point.

Theyre leaning so hard into this anti-democratic, authoritarian, non-policy-based iteration and identity. The old adage, As goes California, so goes the country, well, look at what the California Republican party did and were seeing that play out across the board.

Like junior sports teams, state parties are incubators and pipelines for generations of politicians heading to Washington. The primary election system tends to favour the loudest and most extreme voices, who can whip up enthusiasm in the base.

Trump has been promiscuous in his endorsements of Maga-loyal candidates for the November 2022 midterms, among them Herschel Walker, a former football star running for the Senate in Georgia despite a troubled past including allegations that he threatened his ex-wifes life.

Other examples include Sarah Sanders, a former White House press secretary running for governor in Arkansas, and Karoline Leavitt, a 23-year-old former assistant press secretary targeting a congressional seat in New Hampshire.

This week, Amanda Chase, a state senator in Virginia and self-described Trump in heels, announced a bid for Congress against the Democrat Abigail Spanberger. Chase gave a speech in Washington on 6 January, hours before the insurrection, and was censured by her state senate for praising the rioters as patriots.

The former congressman Joe Walsh, who was part of the Tea Party, a previous conservative movement against the Republican establishment, and now hosts a podcast, said: I talked to these folks every day, and for people who think [members of Congress] Matt Gaetz and Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert are nuts, they aint seen nothing yet.

The Republicans at the state and local level are way, way more gone than the Republicans in Washington. Were talking about grassroots voters and activists on the ground and eventually, to win a Republican primary at whatever level, every candidate has to listen to them.

So youre going to get a far larger number of wackadoodle Republicans elected to Congress in 2022 because they will reflect the craziness thats going on state and locally right now.

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The testing ground: how Republican state parties grow Trumpism 2.0 - The Guardian