Virginia Republicans Poised to Nominate a Far-Right Extremist for U.S. Senate Yet Again 

Virginia Republicans poised to nominate a far-right extremist for Senate again 

RICHMOND, VA — Virginia Republicans will go to the polls next Tuesday to choose their nominee for this year’s Senate race, and just like in 2018 when they chose white nationalist Corey Stewart, they’re on track to nominate another extreme conservative far out of step with everyday Virginians.

Retired Army Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Gade is currently leading the field of Republicans vying to run against Mark Warner. He has outraised his opponents and racked up endorsements from national Republicans and GOP leaders across the Commonwealth. But he has dangerous views on everything from education to health care. Here are just a few examples:

• In early March, Gade joined Donald Trump in downplaying the risks of COVID-19, telling his followers to “just do normal things” and accused others of trying to “stir this up into something it’s not.”
• Later that month Gade purposefully put Asian-Americans at risk and called the pandemic the “Chinese Wuhan virus,” something even President Trump stopped doing after significant backlash.
• In multiple instances, Gade has advocated for abolishing the Department of Education
• Gade said school shootings are “not really a gun problem”
• He opposes anti-discrimination measures for LGBTQ+ Americans, something even conservative justices on the Supreme Court are amenable to
• Gade opposes Medicaid expansion, a program that has given health care to hundreds of thousands of Virginians and saved thousands of lives
• At the end of March, as COVID-19 cases were spreading rapidly, Gade praised President Trump, saying, “the president’s leadership on this has been great.”
• Recently Gade compared mask guidelines to tyranny. “Every time you put on your mask, I want you to think about the fact that this is what tyranny feels like,” he said in an interview. The CDC has recommended everyone wear masks when they leave their homes, regardless of whether or not they show symptoms.

“Virginia Republicans have completely lost touch with reality. They just kicked out one of their own Congressmen for officiating a same-sex wedding and now their likely nominee for Senate wants to abolish the Department of Education and take health care away from hundreds of thousands of Virginians. Extremists like Daniel Gade are the exact reason why the Virginia GOP has lost every statewide election over the past decade,” said DPVA Communications Director Grant Fox.