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On Jan. 6, 2021, a man named Derrick Van Orden went to Capitol Hill. According to the Wisconsin Republican’s version of events, he left when the pro-Trump mob became violent, and he insisted that he did not enter the grounds of the Capitol itself. A Daily Beast report later called Van Orden’s claims into question, though he rejected the accuracy of the article.
Almost two years to the day later, the Wisconsin Republican will return to Capitol Hill — this time as an elected member of Congress. MSNBC reported yesterday:
Derrick Van Orden, a Trump loyalist who rallied outside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, won his U.S. House race in Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional District. ... Van Orden flipped the seat, defeating Democratic state Sen. Brad Pfaff, after Democrat Rep. Ron Kind decided not to run for re-election.
For democracy advocates, the outcome was likely discouraging, but Van Orden wasn’t the only Republican candidate linked to Jan. 6 on the ballot yesterday, and others weren’t as fortunate as the Wisconsinite. HuffPost reported:
Many Republican candidates who were directly linked to the deadly Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol lost their bids for office in Tuesday’s midterm elections, in a big repudiation of extremism and GOP efforts to torpedo democracy.
Perhaps the most high-profile example was Doug Mastriano, who went to the Capitol on Jan. 6, and whose claims about what transpired have been called into question. The Pennsylvania Republican badly lost his gubernatorial race this week.
There’s also Dan Cox, who attended Donald Trump’s pre-riot rally on Jan. 6. The Maryland Republican badly lost his gubernatorial campaign, too.
In Ohio, Republican congressional candidate J.R. Majewski was seen around the Capitol on Jan. 6, and he lost this week to incumbent Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur. North Carolina’s Sandy Smith said she “marched ... to the Capitol” on Jan. 6, and she lost her congressional campaign, too.
As for Arizona, Mark Finchem, the Republican nominee for secretary of state, has faced difficult questions about his involvement with the events at the Capitol, and in the state’s 3rd congressional district, Jeff Zink ran, despite facing criminal charges related to Jan. 6.
Zink, who’s pleaded not guilty, lost in a landslide to incumbent Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego, while Finchem’s race has not yet been called. Watch this space.