Conservative congressional candidate Laura Loomer, 26, tells how she plans to unseat Democrat

At just 26 and without much political experience except for the occasional gimmick designed to drive the likes of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi nuts, conservative personality Laura Loomer’s attempt to unseat a four-term U.S. Congress incumbent is gaining momentum.

She understands, Loomer said in an exclusive interview with DailyMailTV, why her attempt to become the youngest member of congress in history was originally dismissed as the longest of long shots.

After all, she’s running in Florida’s District 21, a district overwhelmingly slanted toward the Democratic Party with a heavily Jewish population despite the fact that it is home to Mar-a-Lago, President Donald Trump’s residence away from the White House.

Laura Loomer is attempting to unseat four-term Democrat congressional incumbent Lois Frankel for Florida’s District 21

Loomer's chances are slim as in the 2016 congressional election, Lois Frankel, 71, won 63 percent against her Republican opponent and in 2018 ran uncontested

Loomer’s chances are slim as in the 2016 congressional election, Lois Frankel, 71, won 63 percent against her Republican opponent and in 2018 ran uncontested

Loomer herself is a polarizing personality who carries the type of baggage that would make many local voters squirm.

Like the time she branded Islam a cancer on society.

Or when Lyft and Uber shut down her accounts after she went on a tirade about needing a ‘non-Islamic’ ride-sharing service.

Or like the time she was arrested in New York City’s Central Park after storming the stage during a showing of Shakespeare in the Park’s Julius Caesar when, in the play, the Roman emperor made up to look like Trump was assassinated.

Yet, some of those who dismissed her as little more than a provocateur are re-thinking their stance about her chances to become a U.S. Representative.

Slightly more than six months after she announced her candidacy for the U.S. Congress, Loomer has managed to raise almost $400,000 in contributions from more than 7,000 donors who donate an average $56 – a feat unequaled by many veteran politicians let alone one as young as Loomer.

The loot has placed Loomer far ahead in fundraising among the eight Republicans vying for the party’s nomination in August. And none of them can rival with Loomer’s name recognition and internet following.

If she makes it, Loomer then will face four-term congresswoman Lois Frankel in November’s general elections. In the 2016 congressional election Frankel, 71, won 63 percent against her Republican opponent and in 2018 she ran uncontested.

‘I will be everybody’s congresswoman,’ says Loomer when asked about the reasons for her fundraising prowess, ‘and I will represent people from all walks of life and political beliefs, unlike Lois, who does absolutely nothing for anyone who’s not a part of her base. People are just sick of her.

‘I call her Lazy Lois. She’s politically lazy and fat.’

Frankel’s campaign responded with a statement that read: ‘Rep. Frankel is focused on serving her constituents and not disrespectful name calling.’

The campaign did not address its lackluster fundraising.

If she wins, the conservative and controversial personality would become the youngest member in the history of Congress at age 26

If she wins, the conservative and controversial personality would become the youngest member in the history of Congress at age 26

Loomer has been banned from several social media platforms for promoting speech labeled as hate speech targeting Muslims and posted for this photo with Donald Trump Jr. and Kimberly Guilfoyle

Loomer has been banned from several social media platforms for promoting speech labeled as hate speech targeting Muslims and posted for this photo with Donald Trump Jr. and Kimberly Guilfoyle

Loomer is a polarizing personality and took this photo with self-proclaimed 'dirty trickster' and one of the most notorious Republican insiders Roger Stone

Loomer is a polarizing personality and took this photo with self-proclaimed ‘dirty trickster’ and one of the most notorious Republican insiders Roger Stone 

Yet, Frankel’s campaign accounts are fat. And even if Loomer out-raised her two-to-one in the last two quarters of 2019, Frankel is sitting on a $1.1 million war chest thanks to previous campaigns where she ran unopposed.

As if to prove her inclusiveness, Loomer held her recent campaign kickoff at a diner in nearby Boca Raton owned by a Muslim woman who immigrated from Pakistan.

‘I heard about Laura through a Republican friend who said Laura wanted to have a kickoff here,’ said Naheed Khan, 63, owner of diner The Griddle and a staunch supporter of Trump. ‘At first, I was wondering why she did some of the things she did. I’m a practicing Muslim, so I didn’t want any doubt.’

Khan said she and Farha Khan, her pediatrician daughter, invited Loomer for a talk and, says Naheed, she found out Loomer wasn’t really as she was made out to be.

‘She’s anti-radicalism,’ said Khan, ‘not anti-Muslim. Some of the things she does might be cringe-worthy, but many things we all do are cringe-worthy. So, I told her she could have her kickoff party here.’

Said Loomer: ‘I think Naheed recognized I’m fighter, just like her. We don’t agree on everything, but her loyalties are with the United States and she agrees that people who immigrate here need to assimilate and embrace American values.’

Laura Loomer burst onto the conservative stage in 2015 when she, a Jew, was a student at Barry University, a Catholic University run by nuns near Miami.

Loomer, one of a few Republican students in an overwhelmingly liberal school, participated in a ‘gotcha’ video at the urging of Project Veritas, a right-wing group that uses hidden cameras to expose what it sees as Liberal bias in colleges, non-profits and government. 

As if to prove her inclusiveness, Loomer held her recent campaign kickoff at a diner in nearby Boca Raton owned by Naheed Khan (left), a  Muslim woman who immigrated from Pakistan, and her daughter Farha Khan

As if to prove her inclusiveness, Loomer held her recent campaign kickoff at a diner in nearby Boca Raton owned by Naheed Khan (left), a  Muslim woman who immigrated from Pakistan, and her daughter Farha Khan

Loomer had a decent turnout at her campaign kickoff at a diner in Boca Raton, Florida

Loomer had a decent turnout at her campaign kickoff at a diner in Boca Raton, Florida 

Loomer has been shamed for branding Islam a cancer on society, being arrested for storming the stage during a Shakespeare show in protest, and camping on Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's lawn

Loomer has been shamed for branding Islam a cancer on society, being arrested for storming the stage during a Shakespeare show in protest, and camping on Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s lawn

Loomer surreptitiously taped her encounter with school officials during a meeting where she asked permission to set up a new club called Sympathetic Students In Support Of The Islamic State.

The footage seemed to indicate school officials were in favor of starting such a club on campus but appeared to suggest she drop the ‘Islamic State’ from the name.

The footage went viral, and school officials suspended Loomer for what they saw as her attempt to embarrass the school.

The story made Loomer an instant celebrity in the Alt-Right’s cyber-world, but it also launched her anti-Muslim reputation.

‘I’m not anti-Muslim,’ she said, ‘I study Islamic terrorism.’

With video cameras in tow and a huge distribution network online, Loomer continued with higher-profile gimmicks to expose what she saw as the Left’s corruption. In the summer 2017, she and other conservative activists stopped the Shakespeare play in Central Park.

In January 2019, she was back in the news when she got three alleged illegal immigrants from Mexico and Guatemala to set up their tents on the lawn of Speaker of the House Pelosi’s Napa Valley home in her home state of California.

In time, Loomer and her crew were kicked off Pelosi’s lawn by police, and Loomer was handed a warning for trespassing.

In January 2019, Loomer got three alleged illegal immigrants from Mexico and Guatemala to set up their tents on the lawn of Speaker of the House Pelosi's Napa Valley home in her home state of California

In January 2019, Loomer got three alleged illegal immigrants from Mexico and Guatemala to set up their tents on the lawn of Speaker of the House Pelosi’s Napa Valley home in her home state of California

In the summer 2017, Loomer and other conservative activists stopped the Shakespeare play in Central Park.

In the summer 2017, Loomer and other conservative activists stopped the Shakespeare play in Central Park.

Loomer says her political stance mirrors President Donald Trump's. She's for immigration controls, a strong military and aide to Israel, and against socialism

Loomer says her political stance mirrors President Donald Trump’s. She’s for immigration controls, a strong military and aide to Israel, and against socialism

Loomer has also been at war with mainstream social media platforms.

One November morning in 2018 in Manhattan, she chained herself to the door of the local Twitter headquarters to protest her banishment from social media for hate speech.

At first, Loomer worried the moves by Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and others would make it impossible for her to make a living and raise campaign contributions.

Now, Loomer proudly describes herself as The World’s Most Censored woman, and she has managed to find other ways to conduct her political agenda and fundraising away from PayPal.

She is, for example, active on Parler, where she has 89,000 followers, and Gab, where she has 27,000. Both are conservative platforms that allow a looser definition of free speech and, at times, have been accused of providing a haven for white supremacists and neo-Nazis.

As for her campaign cash, most donations come via her campaign website, lauraloomerforcongress.com, mostly from a national base, people who often live thousands of miles away from West Palm Beach.

‘I will not bow down to the radical left,’ Loomer said about her efforts to do without social media. ‘There’s a lack of tolerance for the other side and an unwillingness to tolerate the free speech of people with a different opinion.

‘I’m running because we need to fix that.’

By design, Loomer says, her political stance mirrors Trump’s. She’s for immigration controls, a strong military and aide to Israel, and against socialism.

Florida's District 21 is the district that houses Trump's Mar-a-Lago, yet it still remains  overwhelmingly Democratic

 Florida’s District 21 is the district that houses Trump’s Mar-a-Lago, yet it still remains  overwhelmingly Democratic

'I call her Lazy Lois. She's politically lazy and fat,' Loomer says of her opponent Frankel

‘I call her Lazy Lois. She’s politically lazy and fat,’ Loomer says of her opponent Frankel 

Sid Dinerstein, a former chairman of the Palm Beach County Republicans, believes Loomer could get swept into office on a ‘red wave’ carrying dozens of new Republican congressional candidates into office alongside Trump.

‘I’ve always thought we’d never get this district,’ Dinerstein said. ‘But the demographics are changing. Lois Frankel’s core constituents are older Jewish residents. They’re dying off and being replaced by younger Hispanics. Guess what? Laura Loomer speaks Spanish, and she’s out in the community every day. She has no fear and she has money. She’s going to do well.’

While she’ll talk anybody’s ear off when it comes to politics, Loomer is a lot less vocal about her private life.

Some say she has no life outside politics.

Her campaign’s website is totally devoid of personal notes and photos with pets or babies.

She doesn’t have a significant other, she says, and no visible hobby.

She currently lives in a beachfront condo on the south side of Palm Beach.

A Democratic Party campaign operative who asked not to be named said there’s no way Frankel, a former mayor of West Palm Beach and long-time member of the state legislature, could lose her seat to Loomer.

‘The demographics in that district show there’s no reason for anyone to believe Lois can lose,’ said the source. ‘Lois is rising in the ranks and this being Trump’s home district, there’s no way the party will allow this seat to go.

‘Besides, a Republican would have to raise at least $3 million to win this race, and that’s not happening.’

 

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk