Six with Criminal Records Are Running for the U.S. Congress in 2018
There is no law that prevents a convicted felon from running for the U.S. Congress. Six convicted felons are running during the 2018 midterm elections, two for the U.S. Senate and four for the U.S. House of Representatives. Four are Republicans and two are Democrats.
They are in alphabetical order:
- Democrat candidate David Alcorn who was convicted of stalking. Alcorn is one of nine candidates for the Democratic Party’s nomination in New Mexico’s 2nd Congressional District.
- Former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio who is running in the Republican primary the U.S. Senate seat in Arizona. Then Sheriff Arpaio was convicted of misdemeanor criminal contempt of court in July 2017 for defying a court order requiring him to stop detaining people he suspected of being illegal aliens. President Donald Trump pardoned him one month later.
- Don Blankenship, the former head of the coal mining company Massey Energy who is running in the Republican primary to challenge Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.). Blankenship served one year in prison on a misdemeanor conviction for conspiring to evade safety laws after the death of 29 miners at his Upper Big Branch Mine in 2010.
- Congressman Greg Gianforte (R-Mont.) is running for re-election. Gianforte plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge of assaulting a reporter in 2017.
- Former Rep. Michael Grimm, who is challenging incumbent Rep. Dan Donovan (R-N.Y.) Grimm is a former FBI agent who pleaded guilty to felony tax evasion in 2014.
- Bradley Edward (Chelsea) Manning who was convicted by court-martial in July 2013, of violations of the Espionage Act and other offenses, after disclosing to WikiLeaks nearly 750,000 classified, or unclassified but sensitive, military and diplomatic documents. Manning’s sentence was communted by former President Barack Obama in 2016. Manning is running in the Democratic primary in Maryland for the U.S. Senate.
Perhaps the two most interesting candidates are Republican Sheriff Joe Arpaio and Democrat Bradley Edward (Chelsea) Manning.
Both have something in common. Both are convicted felons and both have been pardoned by a U.S. President. Control of the U.S. Senate is critical to furthering any president’s agenda. President Trump has taken strong positions on rebuilding the military, border security, immigration and growing the economy by reducing taxes and regulations.
It is clear that the Democratic Party is not and will not help further President Trump’s agenda of making America great, again.
The Family Research Council in an article titled “Chelsea Manning: The Voice of Treason” notes:
Chelsea Manning had a chance to serve his country — and betrayed it. Now he wants to serve in the U.S. Senate. The former Army private-turned-transgender-activist stunned everyone this week by announcing a run for elected office, one year after he was pardoned for treason. Welcome to the new Democratic Party.
For most people, the idea would be outrageous even if Manning weren’t sure which gender to identify with. This is, after all, a man who was convicted of war crimes against the very country he’s running to represent. “All Manning would have to do,” a Fox News commentator pointed out, “is swear another meaningless oath and promise to obey it this time to once again gain access to our national security secrets, which [he] could leak again if [he] wished. That should fill you with confidence.”
In a Huffington Post column titled “Republicans Have 4 Convicted Criminals Running For Congress In 2018” Paul Blumenthal notes:
When Joe Arpaio, the former Maricopa County sheriff, announced his Senate candidacy on Tuesday, he became the fourth viable Republican 2018 congressional candidate who’s been convicted of a crime. And like two of the other GOP cons running for office, he has cited his criminal record as a partial justification for his candidacy.
Arpaio was convicted of misdemeanor criminal contempt of court in July 2017 for defying a court order requiring him to stop illegally detaining people he suspected of being undocumented immigrants based on their race. President Donald Trump pardoned him one month later.
The midterm elections will be notable is many different ways, the idea of convicted felons running is just one more anomaly.
This reminds us of the Capitol One commercial. What’s in your Congress?
name recognition gets people elected….recognition for either good or evil will do it!!
Beth,
Thanks for reading and commenting on this column. Well said.
How is this legal? Particularly, Chelsea Manning who gave away National Security info.
Sarah,
Thanks for reading and commenting. That’s the million dollar question.
Who wrote this tripe.
Misdemeanor conviction =/= Convicted Felon.
Manning’s sentence was commuted. The still convicted felon did not get a pardon.
Sean,
Thanks for reading and commenting. We have fixed our column.
I’m confused. If Sheriff Joe was convicted of a simple misdemeanor of contempt of court, he is not a convicted felon. A convicted felon is one who has been convicted of a felony crime, generally a crime which included a minimum sentence of one year in state prison. A misdemeanor conviction is not a felony conviction.
Joe,
Thanks for reading and commenting.
Sheriff Joe was pardoned by President Trump and served no jail time.
NO HE /SHE IN OUR AMERICA VOTE SHERIFF JOE
Headline says “convicted felons” but most of them were convicted of misdemeanors.
There’s a big difference between felony and misdemeanor convictions!
Makes me wonder – doctor of what?
Being convicted of a misdemeanor DOES NOT make you a felon.
A conviction of a misdemeanor or a felony it is a “recordable crime”, meaning you now have a criminal record. Maybe the headline should have been “Six with criminal records are running for Congress in 2018”.
Thomas,
We have changed the title based upon your thoughtful comment.
Thank you for your support.