Trump-loving Republican candidate Ted Howze's congressional campaign in the California 10th district has been moved from "likely Democratic win" to "safe Democrat," despite the district being more GOP friendly.
Howze signed up to oppose Rep. Josh Harder (D-CA), but now a series of social media posts from his accounts that attacked Muslims, immigrants and the Black Lives Matter movement has been revealed. An expose from Politico showcasing the racist statements ultimately lead to House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) to remove Howze from a website promoting Republican candidates challenging Democrats.
“The content in question on Mr. Howze’s social media channels is disappointing and disturbing,” McCarthy said in a written statement. “Bigotry and hateful rhetoric — in any form — have no place in the Republican Party. These posts are unacceptable and do not reflect the Mr. Howze that I have briefly interacted with." He went on to say that he would take action of "Howze is found to be the originator of these posts.”
Howze swore that he had nothing to do with the posts, rather he hired a young person to run his social media account and that is how the posts appeared.
“People he (Howze) knew, people he was familiar with made these comments (and retweets). He’s very upset. This is not who he is. He really is disgusted by the whole thing," said campaign manager Tim Rosales.
The "Crystal Ball," Larry Sabato's prediction center at the University of Virginia's Center for Politics, called the candidate's flatline official on Thursday, saying Harder looks to be safe after the GOP abandoned Howze.
