A candidate running for Rep. Steve Daines’ (R-MT) vacated seat was turned away by the local Republican Party for the candidate’s racist views.
According to The Missoulian on Thursday, local Republicans turned away tea party candidate Drew Turiano from the Lincoln-Reagan Dinner on Saturday.
“We asked Mr. Turiano not to attend our event because we have no intention of allowing him a platform to spread hate and intolerance,” Yellowstone County Republican Chairwoman Jennifer Owen said. “There is simply no place for racism in this party.”
In the past Turiano has supported “Operation Wetback” a proposal to deport all immigrants living in the country illegally as well as their children even if they were born in the United States. While Turiano said that he was excluded from the event for his affiliation with the tea party (Owen denied that was the reason) he also acknowledged that it might have been for his support of Operation Wetback.
The executive director of the Montana GOP, Bowen Greenwood, told the Associated Press that the party has a “long tradition of standing against racism.” Greenwood also said that Republicans also rejected Turiano’s candidacy because of his use of an “offensive racial epithet” in his campaign.
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(H/t: Huffington Post)
