During a Republican district convention in the suburban Twin Cities last month, Ali Jimenez-Hopper helped seal her endorsement as a state House candidate with a speech that attacked her Democratic opponent on the basis of her sexual orientation and race.
Referring to Erin Maye Quade, a staffer for Keith Ellison who has a black dad and is married to a woman, Jimenez-Hopper said “she is really far left [in] her values.”
“She brings up that she is half black and she uses that as a strength. She brings up that she is in support of LGBT and that lifestyle and puts out pictures on Twitter of her and her wife,” Jimenez-Hopper continued. “I believe in the traditional marriage in the sense that it’s between a husband and wife and God and that family is important. We need to have these values so we can go forth and think about your community.”
Oh, the horror! Ms. Quade is confident and proud of her heritage, and she posts photos of herself and her spouse, oh no, why that’s just evil. Pure evil. I much prefer the evil of a married couple posting photos than I am with the idea of the Christian Ménage à trois. So, it’s only the Christian trio family that’s important, the rest of us don’t matter at all. I can’t even process we need to have these values so we can go forth and think about your community. What does that mean? Go forth and think about your community, not our community, that’s a discordant note. Perhaps it’s simply as blatant as it seems, “hey, we’re going to stick our nose in all the things we shouldn’t!”
Following that speech, Jimenez-Hopper was officially endorsed as the GOP candidate for the House seat being vacated by Republican Rep. Tara Mack. Neither Jimenez-Hopper or Maye Quade face primary challengers, meaning they’re set to face off in the general election this November.
There isn’t even the slightest attempt to hide their bigotry now, no trying to disguise it with flowery language, not even going with the tried and true baffle them with bullshit.
Reached for comment, Maye Quade said that like many people, she first heard audio of Jimenez-Hopper’s remarks when they were detailed in a thecolu.mn report published Wednesday. She said she came across the article this morning while in bed with her wife Alyse.
“This isn’t a Republican or Democrat thing, it’s basic human respect and it’s shocking to hear from anyone,” Maye Quade told ThinkProgress, adding that she’s never met Jimenez-Hopper. “That’s not the tone I want for this election — at least for me.”
I love that she mentions being in bed with her wife. If I was a Minnesotan, Ms. Quade would definitely get my vote.