North Carolina Democrat Shelly Headen is on track to defeat Republican incumbent Rep. John Blust by 233 votes in the race for a state House seat, with provisional ballots still pending. Those ballots will likely add to Headen’s lead, according to the report.
That result is drawing attention because Headen previously posted a Facebook story while visiting Dachau, including a caption saying Trump supporters belong in concentration camps. Breitbart News reported that Headen was photographed smiling in front of what appears to be the crematorium ovens used by the Nazi SS to burn the bodies of Jews and other prisoners who died or were murdered at the camp.
The caption above the photo read: “Visiting Dauchau [sic] Concentration Camp in Germany… This is where Trump supporters belong,” she wrote.
That is an extraordinary thing for any political candidate to publish. Most candidates spend campaign season trying to persuade voters that they respect the public. Headen apparently decided that comparing millions of Americans to concentration camp prisoners was a better communications strategy. Political consultants may want to take notes, although perhaps not the kind that belong in a campaign handbook.
Her other remarks were hardly an improvement. Headen also called for an apparent terrorist attack on U.S. soil, saying it was the country’s “only hope,” preferably in “Alabama, Louisiana… where the stupid people live.” That is not merely heated political rhetoric. It is a statement calling for violence against Americans in specific states, according to the account.
Following those comments, Headen told the leftist news website the Assembly, “I’ve sacrificed myself just like Jesus sacrificed himself on the cross, and Martin Luther King and Abraham Lincoln and all the people that put themselves out there to sacrifice for our country.” Comparing a state legislative campaign to the sacrifices associated with Jesus, King, and Lincoln is certainly a bold choice. The voters will have to decide what they make of it.
Headen has also donated to numerous Democrat campaigns in recent years, including incoming Sen. Roy Cooper and the gubernatorial campaign of Josh Stein, who is Jewish. Despite the remarks, the wave of Democrat enthusiasm apparently has her on track to represent Guilford County in the General Assembly.
There is, however, an unusual post-election question attached to this race. Headen previously told the Rhino Times, a conservative online outlet, that she would not take office and would instead allow the county party to choose a replacement. Now residents are waiting to see whether she follows through on that pledge.
The final outcome still depends on the tabulation of provisional ballots, but the larger issue is already sitting in plain view. Voters may soon learn whether Headen intends to accept the seat she appears poised to win or hand it over to someone selected by the county party. That is a remarkably awkward footnote to an election campaign, especially after such inflammatory public statements.
For now, Headen’s lead remains 233 votes, pending the provisional ballot count. The race has become a debate not only over who will represent Guilford County, but also over whether the apparent winner will actually serve. Source: Breitbart.
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