Ohio Republicans Have Their Own (Worse) Version Of George Santos They're Running: J.R. Majewski

Lying About Military Service Is Supposed To Be A Big No-No

Two typical QAnon candidates--but in the sunlight

In their last unconstitutional gerrymandering session, the Ohio legislature's Republicans finalized a corrupted map-- and they had one congressional Democrat they honed in on as a target for defeat: Marcy Kaptur, tghe longest-serving woman in the history of Congress. They significantly redrew her district, OH-09. In 2020, under the old boundaries, she beat Republican Rob Weber 190,328 (63.1%) to 111,385 (36.9%). This is what the county results looked like that year:

Last year, under the new gerrymandered boundaries, she still won, but only narrowly and, likely, only because the Republicans nominated a MAGA sociopath, J.R. Majewski. She took 150,655 votes (55.6%) to his 115,362 (43.4%). As you can see, the county profile was radically different— no more blue Cuyohaga or Lorain county voters:

The 9th had gone from a district with a D+16 partisan lean, to one with an R+6 partisan lean— a shocking and transparent shift. Kaptur was very lucky the GOP nominated an unelectable crackpot as her opponent instead of a garden variety button down Republican. This cycle she was preparing for the worst. The leading candidate of the GOP establishment was former state Rep Craig Riedel, who got caught denigrating Trump on tape and, in terror, turned around and endorsed Trump for president, demonstrating nothing but cowardice. Kaptur’s prayers must have been answered. On Monday, MAGA crackpots Senator JD Vance and two Senate candidates, Bernie Moreno and Frank LaRose, endorsed… Majewski, who has Trump’s backing— and is likely to win the primary… and lose the general. (Max Miller, the woman beater who was a Trump roadie and now a freshman congressman, withdrew his endorsement of Riedel. )

A George Santos-grade résumé inventor, not even the NRCC wanted anything to do with him. He lied about his military record and claimed he served in Afghanistan, which was shown to be a figment of his fevered imagination. But MAGAts don’t care as much about winning as they do about Trump-loyalty and ideological crackpottery.

Neil Vigdor reported that “Riedel accused one of Majewski’s top MAGA boosters, Matt Gaetz of Florida, of setting him up. ‘Matt Gaetz and a social media trickster pulled a stunt yesterday to try and convince President Trump to get involved in my congressional primary for proven loser JR Majewski,’ Mr. Riedel wrote on X. Trump, who endorsed Majewski in 2022, heralded him on Saturday while both attended a New York Young Republican Club gala, blaming the ‘deep state’ for undermining Majewski during his last run. ‘We stuck by him,’ Trump said, adding, ‘They played dirty pool, but you’ll get a second shot, right?’ [“Dirty pool” meaning exposing his lies.]

Majewski had launched his 2024 campaign in April, was so badly received that he quit in May... and then decided to jump back into the race in October.

Reidel has received endorsements from Republicans considered more mainstream, including Kevin McCarthy, before he was deposed as speaker of the House, and Americans for Prosperity Action, a political network founded by the billionaire industrialist brothers Charles and David Koch. The group has spent nearly $250,000 on Riedel’s behalf this election cycle, according to the Federal Election Commission. [Others who had endorsed Riedel: Steve Scalise, Tom Emmer, Gym Jordan, Elise Stefanik.]

…In a statement to the New York Times on Tuesday, Gaetz denied orchestrating the secret recording.

“Craig Riedel trashed Trump when he thought it would help him get a New Yorker to give him money,” he said. “We have enough people willing to say and do anything for campaign cash in Congress already. Craig Riedel exposed himself in his own words. I had nothing to do with it, though I wish I had.”

Aidan Johnson, a spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, in a statement called the Republican primary contest an “ugly and expensive race to the bottom.”

…While Majewski has frequently promoted himself as a combat veteran who served in Afghanistan after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Air Force records obtained by The Times show that he deployed for six months in 2002 to Qatar, which is now home to the largest U.S. air base in the Middle East.

According to military records, the Air Force demoted Majewski in September 2001 for driving drunk at Kadena Air Base in Japan, contradicting his earlier account that he could not re-enlist in the Air Force after his initial four years because of a “brawl.”

The inconsistencies in Majewski’s public accounts of his military service brought renewed scrutiny during the last election cycle, when he was already facing questions about his presence at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and sympathies for the QAnon conspiracy movement.

Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose's Senate campaign is in the toilet so he has apparently changed his mind about opposing stolen valor, in order to appeal to the state's many, many, many MAGAts. This is LaRose last year, when he took a principled stand against Majewski: