In 1941, American troops stormed the beaches of Normandy, France in an effort to push back the rising tide of Nazi Germany. In 2018, a Nazi is running unopposed for a Congressional district seat in Illinois that would include parts of Chicago. If you’re shocked that the second sentence would follow the first, then you’re probably not alone, and this isn’t a joke. Arthur Jones, a 70-year-old admitted and well-documented Neo-Nazi, will be running for the Republican nomination to the 3rd Congressional district seat in Illinois. 2018 is supposed to be a big year for governments across America: it’s a midterm year, and a large chunk of political positions are up for grabs, potentially swinging the composition of governments at all levels.

      It should be a year where the best candidates from both parties are running in an attempt to round out and gain control over local, state, and federal government positions. With many high-profile seats opening up, most of them being abandoned by Republicans, the GOP desperately needs to run the cream of their crop in order to maintain a political majority at all levels. That isn’t happening as of yet.

      After a surprise upset in Alabama’s race that saw Democrat Doug Jones defeat Republican challenger Roy Moore to represent the state in the U.S. Senate, the Republicans have slowly been losing their grasp on government positions left and right. So, who better than Arthur Jones to win over…no one really. Jones, a former insurance agent, is an outspoken anti-Semite and proud Nazi. In fact, he is a former leader of the American Nazi Party (yes, we have one of those) and currently runs a group known as the America First Committee (popular slogan these days…). If you’re interested in membership to this group, it is important to note that only those white American citizens “who are of European, non-Jewish descent” may apply.
Jones is very outspoken in his hatred of Jews and other people of color, going so far as to be part of the disgustingly large Holocaust denier population.

      In fact, he’s quoted as considering the Holocaust to be “the biggest blackest lie in history,” and his congressional campaign website includes a section titled “The Holocaust Racket” where he discusses what he views as the global money racket known as the Holocaust. You know…the genocide that killed 11 million people, give or take.Jones is running entirely unopposed by any other candidate, even though he lost candidacy in previous races for forged petition signatures. This time, he had valid signatures, and though there are no candidates running against him and he will most certainly be the Republican nominee for the position, the GOP of Illinois has denounced him and refuses to support him at all in the race.

    This hasn’t bothered Jones, however. He has already stated he doesn’t want any support from the Republican governor of Illinois, nor does he want endorsement from Trump, who he views as having “surrounded himself with hordes of Jews,” which includes Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. Jones’ campaign, therefore, is being totally opposed by everyone he would have to work with, and he opposes them. Even still, there is not a single Republican candidate opposing him in the race that could possibly be a better selection, so the already heavily Democratic—and extremely diverse–3rd District will go to a Democratic candidate, costing Republicans yet one more governmental seat.

     Not all Republicans are blatant anti-Semites or racists. It is not an inherent value required of the party. That said, too many candidates like Arthur Jones are being offered up to an increasingly diverse American populace by a party that is still trying to cling to old values that no longer work for America. It is times like these where Republicans and Trump should publicly decry Jones as not being a representation of Republicanism. Thus far, that has only happened on a local level, which is far from enough. This isn’t a surprise either, as the current administration consistently refuses to label Neo-Nazis as hate groups or terrorists, nor will they label white mass shooters as domestic terrorists despite them fitting the definition of such an individual. This isn’t good for the GOP: 2018 will likely see a complete flipping of politics because of candidates like Jones and Moore.

     In an age of alternative facts and giving more credence to a groundhog than an astrophysicist, candidates like Jones could prove to be the opportunity Neo-Nazis have been looking for sine the 1940s. Nazism did not start with the creatures we believe live in the shadows. It did not come from monsters or aliens or beings from another dimension. It started with common humans exercising political influence over a desperate, economically crushed population. Division and diversion created a recipe for one of the worst genocides in modern history, and every year more and more survivors and first-hand witnesses pass away. If people like Arthur Jones can gain a foothold in American politics, 2018 could potentially be the year that the worst of history repeats itself. With fluctuating markets, companies shipping jobs overseas while sucking up massive profits, and some of the worst trade deficits since the 2008 economic crisis, the desperation is there.

     Illinois, the nation is watching you. You’re the first line of defense against the Nazi invasion of America. Let’s make sure that “Wolfenstein” remains just a video game, and remember that America was great when it was beating Nazis.
 

Arianna is a senior Russian and History major. She is Tuesday Managing Editor for The Voice