Meet Eric Morrison, the Democratic nominee to the 27th District in Delaware’s House of Representatives. Morrison just won a landslide victory over his rival, incumbent Rep. Earl Jacques, who had publicly shamed Morrison for dressing in drag.
Newsweek reports Morrison took home a whopping 61% of the vote in the Tuesday (9/15) primary after enduring a mudslinging campaign. Morrison is an openly gay man, and Jacques had attacked his history of performing in drag shows under the name Anita Mann as unbecoming of a state Representative. Morrison had also hosted drag fundraising events for his campaign.
“That is so far off-base for our district, it’s unbelievable,” Jacques said of Morrison’s performance history during the campaign. “You wonder what the point is. You can have fundraisers, I don’t care about that. But dressing in drag? Really? I’m not sure he represents the people who attend those places of religion. If he’s actually having a fundraiser in drag, I don’t think those churches would endorse that … I’m just saying it’s a little different, that’s for sure.”
After a loud public outcry–including criticism from fellow Democratic officials–Jacques apologized for his remarks, deeming them “insensitive, hurtful, and simply wrong.”
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“It is wrong to attempt to pass judgment or impose one person’s belief structure onto others,” Jacques admitted. “My job as a state representative is to represent all constituents of the 27th District, regardless of gender, race, creed, orientation or identity, period.”
The apology, however, did little to alter the course of the race. Jacques’s criticism of Morrison helped make LGBTQ issues a centerpiece of the campaign. Morrison attacked his record, citing that Jacques had voted against marriage equality in 2013 and refused to support bans on conversion therapy.
“I say that no real Democrat votes against a woman’s right to choose, LGBT equality, banning the barbaric practice of LGBT ‘conversion therapy,’ environmental protections, and preserving vital programs for seniors,” Morrison said in a statement.
Apparently, his words resonated with voters. Early Wednesday morning, Morrison tweeted his thanks to his constituents and set his sights on the bigger prize this November.
“We are taking today to celebrate and rest,” Morrison said, “and tomorrow we keep it in high gear for the November 3 general election!”
Last night, we won our primary election with a spread of over 22%! Thank you to everyone who supported our campaign in any way, big or small. We are taking today to celebrate and rest—and tomorrow, we keep it in high gear for the November 3 general election! pic.twitter.com/lPTxp7QoRZ
— EricMorrison4the27th (@EricMorrison_DE) September 16, 2020
Kangol2
Congrats to Eric Morrison on his victory and perhaps his bigoted opponent learned something about how hate doesn’t always win.
otttovan
The only thing offensive about Mr Morrison’s drag career is that he used the hackneyed name “Anita Mann”. Good on him for winning the primary
Jake123
Can someone answer me this question. This is the second time it’s been reported about homophobic abuse internally at the Democratic Party. Why is nothing being done. I mean if this was a workplace surely there would be an investigation and heads would roll?? I thought Democrats were the good guys!!
Please don’t eat me, I’m not American and I’m just asking. I’m not Right Wong or Russian!!
RnDC
@jake123, something was done. The voters voted in the right candidate that reflected their values. The bigot lost.
jayceecook
The Dems have always had essentially two factions of members. The progressives (left leaning) and the moderates (right leaning). Growing up my mom and other people in her political sphere would refer to the moderate Dems as Blue Dog Dems. They were usually Dems from the south or Midwest that had a conservative voting record. Basically they were too liberal to be Repubs but not progressive enough to be “true Dems”.
If there ever was a time where you could see the clear division between the two factions it’s right now. The national democratic party has been very pro moderate Dems for about 15-20 years as they try to chase after conservative voters. It’s how Hillary and Biden ended up the presidential candidates.
However a lot of local, state, and some federal positions have been won by more progressive Dems. This has been causing a rift in the party as the newer progressives are not keen to tow the party line anymore. They want real changes in both the party and politics. Yet the moderates are being pushed by the big wigs because they see them as the only viable candidates who can take down Repubs in the moderate and conservative states. Though that hasn’t always worked.
It’s very similar to what happened with the Republicans and the (I guess) defunct Tea Party. That’s when the uber conservative Repubs felt the party was becoming too liberal that they tried to create their own spin-off party. It worked for a short time but ultimately collapsed because America is addicted to the 2 party system and will band together to stop all others. They have such control over the system nobody outside those parties will ever win major positions. That’s why Bernie who is an Independent ran as a Dem for the presidential nomination. He would never be viable as an Indy.
I’ve been saying for years that the Dems will end up with their own version of the Tea Party if they keep smacking down the progressives. Nobody knows how to eat their own better than the democrats.
Mattster
Candidates are not employees of the political party, simply individuals that register to run for office as members of the party. If someone is awful then the voters can get rid of them by voting them out of office.
Cam
Something was done, other Democrats publicly attacked Jacques for saying that, and he lost big.
Jake123
Hey Guys thanks for the replies. As someone not from America it can be quite jarring the amount of fighting and infighting involved with your politics. I suppose it’s because you only have two major parties and the world is definitely not a binary so it doesn’t always work. Anyway I learned something today 🙂
popsilkollia
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Cam
Good! Get the last of people like Jacques out of places where their bigotry won’t fly anymore. Delaware gave him a wakeup call.
LumpyPillows
Before reading the article, I thought, god, no, a drag queen is making a mockery of an election. Then I realized it was just a gay guy running for office who dresses in drag on his off time. More power to him, nobodies business if he does. I hope he wins.