Florida voters elected Republican Marshall Rawson, a man with neo-Nazi ties who has called for executing queer people, to the Florida State House of Representatives on Tuesday. He defeated his Democratic opponent, Merrillee Malwitz-Jipson, by 36.4 percentage points.
Rawson, age 34, has condoned slavery, advocated lynching, and called for executing queer people, Talking Points Memo (TPM) reported. TPM wrote that his election “makes him among the most extreme candidates elected to public office since David Duke, the former Ku Klux Klan grand wizard, was elected to the Louisiana state legislature in 1989.”
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Rawson has previously been involved with the League of the South, a white supremacist and neo-Confederate group. He said he was involved with the group from 2013 to 2016 to fight against same-sex marriage, “unfettered immigration,” and to protect “historic monuments” from “woke rioters.”
He marched alongside League of the South group members, neo-Nazis, and white supremacists at the 2017 “Unite The Right” rally in Charlottesville. He also received campaign donations from dozens of people tied to right-wing extremist groups, TPM reported.
The publication said it reached out to 28 current and former GOP officials in Florida, including 22 who endorsed Rawson, to see if they would denounce his views — none did.