Republican candidate Arthur Jones hopes he can represent Illinois' Third District, but the Illinois Republican Party and Democratic candidates in the district all agree that he is a terrible choice for political office.
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Jones is a Holocaust denier and a neo-Nazi.
"Absolutely, it's the biggest, blackest lie in history," Jones said. "It's an extortion racket. Six million Jews weren't killed."
In 2018, Jones ran unopposed in the Republican primary. He then appeared on the ballot for the general election and got more than 57,000 votes. He ultimately lost to incumbent Democrat Dan Lipinski.
In 2020, Jones is running again. This time, the Republican party is putting up two primary challengers in an effort to not be embarrassed by having Jones represent the party in the general election.
"We'll use every means available to us, social media, and our press releases, everything, to ensure that Republican voters do not vote for Arthur Jones in the primary," Illinois Republican Party Chairman Tim Schneider said.
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Still Jones is not worried. In fact, he's predicting a victory.
"I don't think I'll be soundly defeated at all. I think I'll absolutely overwhelm my opposition in the Republican Party and I think I've give Dan Lipinski a doggone good fight," Jones said.
"Well, Art Jones' anti-Semitism and racism are completely unacceptable and have to be condemned, as I did last time that he ran," Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-3rd District) said.
Democrat Marie Newman, who narrowly lost to Lipinski in 2018 and is running against him again, preached a similar message.
"I just want to be crystal clear about this, is that we must condemn Art Jones, full-throatedly. Absolutely we cannot condone his behavior," said Marie Newman, Democrat candidate for Congress.