Donna Provencher at The American Independent has a great piece about how U.S. Senate candidate, John James (R. MI), has been cozening up right-wing extremists like Ted Nugent (pictured above) and some other awful groups:
He has been photographed with and is alleged to have received campaign contributions from Ryan Kelley, founder of the American Patriot Council. The group hosted a June 18 rally where members of the Wolverine Watchmen militia, some of whom were charged with plotting to kidnap Whitmer, reportedly attempted to recruit new members.
And James raised some eyebrows in August when six or seven members of the far-right Proud Boys turned out in their signature black polos with gold trim, some of which sported "Proud Boys" logos, to volunteer at an event James was headlining.
"John was invited as a guest to an event that was hosted and organized by Republican groups," a James campaign spokesperson said in a statement. "John did not have contact or any knowledge of any hate groups that were in attendance. John was at that event for a short time before attending other campaign events that day."
But Randy Bishop, organizer of the event, hosted by the Antrim County Conservative Union, said he knew the Proud Boys were in attendance as they had bought tickets ahead of time, and confirmed that they did volunteer, hanging banners, serving food, and checking in attendees.
Here’s the current polling on the race:
Peters has maintained his lead but it’s still a tight race. By the way, Senator Peters spoke with Elle Magazine to open up about his wife’s personal experiences to make the case for abortion rights:
In the late 1980s in Detroit, Peters and his then wife, Heidi, were pregnant with their second child, a baby they very much wanted. Heidi was four months along when her water broke, leaving the fetus without amniotic fluid—a condition it could not possibly survive. The doctor told the Peters to go home and wait for a miscarriage to happen naturally.
But it didn’t happen. They went back to the hospital the next day, and the doctor detected a faint heartbeat. He recommended an abortion, because the fetus still had no chance of survival, but it wasn’t an option due to a hospital policy banning the procedure. So he sent the couple again home to wait for a miscarriage. “The mental anguish someone goes through is intense,” Peters says, “trying to have a miscarriage for a child that was wanted.”
As they waited, Heidi’s health deteriorated. When she returned to the hospital on the third day, after another night without a natural miscarriage, the doctor told her the situation was dire. She could lose her uterus in a matter of hours if she wasn’t able to have an abortion, and if she became septic from the uterine infection, she could die.
Here’s why Peters went public with this:
Peters decided to go public with the story because “it’s important for folks to understand that these things happen to folks every day. I’ve always considered myself pro-choice and believe women should be able to make these decisions themselves, but when you live it in real life, you realize the significant impact it can have on a family," he told Elle.
Confirmation hearings began Monday in the Senate Judiciary Committee for Amy Coney Barrett, who opposes abortion. As a law professor, she was among hundreds who signed an anti-abortion letter in a 2006 newspaper ad calling for "an end to the barbaric legacy of Roe v. Wade."
Peters said he won't vote to confirm Barrett.
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Elizabeth Welch for Supreme Court