WASHINGTON — In honor of April Fool’s Day, the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee is rolling out its Slate of Fools, showcasing some of the worst Republican state legislators in the country.
“We wish we were joking, but these are some actual, elected Republican officials,” said DLCC President Jessica Post. “And believe me when I tell you it was hard to narrow this list down. While their records are ridiculous, it’s important to remember that their antics have real consequences for families across the country. Harmful incumbents like these are one of the biggest reasons we’re fighting to flip state legislatures from red to blue this year.”
The DLCC’s Slate of Fools includes four Republican legislators who have outdone themselves in setting a low bar for politics in their states:
- Arizona Senator Sylvia Allen (LD-6) is a devout anti-feminist and xenophobic proponent of the “Great Replacement Theory,” the white nationalist theory that has fueled several mass shootings across the country. Allen’s poor grasp on reality can be seen in her recent spreading of misinformation in Arizona during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Kansas Senator Eric Rucker (SD-20) recently shoved an elderly disabled advocate of Medicaid expansion at the Kansas State Capitol and is known for trying to change the Kansas Constitution to ban abortion. Rucker was admonished for his role in misleading the state supreme court about his office’s pursuit of the identities of hundreds of women who obtained abortion services. If that weren’t bad enough, he is a staunch ally of the infamous anti-immigrant former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, and Rucker supported efforts to collect citizenship data during the 2020 census.
- Florida House Speaker José Oliva (HD-110) is an anti-abortion advocate who spent his nine years in office working to disenfranchise voters and block Medicaid expansion, despite studies that showed Florida has the second-highest number of deaths due to lack of Medicaid coverage.
- Utah Senator Dan McCay (SD-11) mocked religious leaders for advocating Medicaid expansion. He’s also worked tirelessly against the poor, supporting an anti-abortion bill that he publicly acknowledged would disproportionately affect low-income women, and he voted against increasing school breakfast access for food-insecure students in Utah.
All of these notorious legislators are up for reelection this year except for Senator McCay. The Slate of Fools is just the first of many DLCC campaigns to shine a spotlight on GOP misdeeds and to hold state legislative Republicans accountable for their reprehensible behavior.
The DLCC and state Democrats have flipped more than 430 state legislative seats and 10 chambers from red to blue since 2016. As part of its 2020 Flip Everything campaign, the DLCC plans to spend $50 million to target Republican-controlled legislatures across the country, including the Florida House, the Arizona Senate, and the Kansas Senate.
###
