Emboldened by Donald Trump’s presidency, major figures among American white supremacist and nationalist groups are using the opportunity to enter this year’s crucial elections.
Topping the relatively long list is David Duke, the notorious former leader of the Ku Klux Klan, who thinks “it’s about time” for his to run for office.
The avowed white supremacist has yet to officially announce his bid but there is every indication that he is mulling a campaign run.
“I think there’s a tremendous amount of frustration in the white community and that we’re at a tipping point,” he recently told the Huffington Post.
Duke was able to take a seat in the Louisiana House of Representatives in 1989. After that, he lost elections for US Senate and Louisiana governor despite earning more than 600,000 votes both times.
He launched another Senate bid in November 2016 but only more than 58,000 people in Louisiana voted for him, far less than what he needed, far less than the threshold.
That was before Trump’s election victory, when Duke and his ilk had long been driven out of the political system.
Trump revitalized the far-right with his heavily racist rhetoric during the campaign, which earned him an open endorsement by Duke. The Republican president never distanced himself from the notorious KKK leader.
The white supremacists have even found the courage to hold public events and stage demonstrations that often turn into violent clashes with counter-protesters. A woman was killed in one such case last year.
Beside Duke, there are at least three white supremacists who have already announced bids for Congress, while a fourth hopeful is running for a state House seat.
Two more candidates — one of whom can unambiguously be called a white supremacist, and one who has ties to white supremacist groups but denies being a white supremacist himself — announced runs for public office, but have since dropped out of their respective races.
Here are some names that stand out:
Arthur Jones
The long-time neo-Nazi was reported earlier this month to be preparing to launch a campaign for a congressional seat representing parts of Chicago and its suburbs.
Republicans have not reacted to his candidacy yet but he is said to be headed for a defeat as the region he is competing for has voted Democratic over the past years.
Paul Nehlen
The Republican candidate, who has appeared on fascist white power podcasts, is running to replace House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin.
Sean Donahue
Donahue is running to replace Rep. Lou Barletta and has expressed concern that white people are becoming a minority in the US.
John Abarr, a white supremacist who rose to fame in 2014 after trying to recruit black men for the KKK, is running for the Montana state House of Representatives as a Democrat..
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