She might be facing a few challenges of her own, though.
Republican Danielle Stella’s campaign to take down Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar has hit a bit of a snag. There is currently a warrant out for her arrest after she failed to appear for a court hearing on Tuesday morning.
She is accused of shoplifting a few thousand dollars worth of stuff from a Target in Edina, which is quite possibly the most Republican White Woman from Minnesota crime ever.
I wonder if being in jail would affect her electability in her district? Not with the Republicans, probably, they’re all thick as thieves, you know. The Muslim inhabitants might have higher standards.
Some background from several months ago, Pro-Trump Republican aiming to unseat Ilhan Omar charged with felony theft:
So, a drunk driver (convicted), with previous incidents of theft (convicted), who lies (repeatedly) and colludes in lies, who has a loose relationship with what is plausible, and who supports hair furor to the extent of claiming to be a
thugnazi party candidate… “Thick as thieves” does not even begin to describe this vile criminal. (She claims to be suffering from , which, if true — which I obviously tend to doubt (albeit without evidence one way or another) — seems a little bit too convenient for the litany of convicted crimes.)“She is charged with the thefts under her former surname, which the Guardian agreed not to report because she said it could endanger her safety.”
That appears to be a consideration she actively works against for others.
Is the Venn Diagram of “Criminals” and “Republicans” just one circle completely inside of the other circle?
“The Muslim inhabitants might have higher standards.”
The Muslim inhabitants almost certainly DO have higher standards than Republicans. That’s a pretty low bar to clear.
In order to steal $2,300 worth of stuff from a Target, you’d have to back a truck all the way to the back and clear out an entire aisle.
@kome #3:
Depending on which way round you think it is, that could be a vile slur on criminals.
Then there was this incident this August: http://www.citypages.com/news/republican-candidate-danielle-stella-booted-from-seward-community-cafe-in-minneapolis/525933511
She really is an entertaining gem, though I don’t see how she’s going to stay out of jail all the way until November 2020.
Oh, if Ms. Stella is elected, she’d certainly decrease crime in her district…
…by doing her crimes in DC, instead.
She is getting a jump on her immunity.
Don’t you love how regularly Republicans own-goal themselves?
Just for the record, under longstanding case law, the U.S. Constitution bars any state government from throwing a candidate for Congress off of the ballot on the grounds that she is a felon. Or a criminal more broadly. Or, indeed, on the grounds that she is currently incarcerated. So as long as this person makes the proper filings with the Minnesota election authorities, she will be on the ballot in 2020 in the Fifth Congressional District, absolutely regardless of what happens in her criminal cases.
For rather different reasons, she stands zero chance of winning the seat: if she manages to survive the Republican primary (who knows; that primary tends to be an unpredictable crackpot-fest), she will inevitably lose to Rep. Omar in a landslide.
Re: Rieux @ #11…
So her campaign slogan would be: “Elect me and I won’t get in trouble…because I’m already in prison”?
Wait a minute. If I am correct, in many states a former convict cannot even vote but federally a person in prison can be elected to federal office?
jkrideau @14: Yes. The Constitution specifies age, citizen, and residency requirements, period, and the courts have held the states and Congress can’t impose further restrictions. People have run for federal office while in prison, e.g., Eugene Debs and Jim Traficant, but no one has been elected to my knowledge.
Blf@1: “…This week Stella also described Minneapolis as the crime capital of our country. She has in the past complained that local police were overworked and overburdened and said that, if elected, she would work to reduce crime.”
I suspect the shoplifting cases will be sharply reduced in Minneapolis, though they might increase in the DC area.
Well, hey, she and Joey Saladino (running for Republican Representative for Staten Island) should get together, sounds like they’d get along famously. (If you haven’t heard of him, put “Joey Saladino Staten Island” into your search engine of choice — there is a much older Republican with the same name in New York who pops up if you only look for the name.)
Trump is going to build a wall on the Minnesota/Mexican border to keep all the bad guys out. It’s going to be amazing. The best wall ever.