The head of the Republican Party in Ohio is calling for the resignation of a GOP state lawmaker who blamed ‘drag queen advocates,’ homosexuals, Barack Obama, and recreational marijuana for the mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton.
Jane Timken said on Monday that the comments posted on Facebook by Candice Keller, who represents Middletown, were ‘shocking’.
‘While our nation was in utter shock over the acts of violence in El Paso and Dayton, Republican State Representative Candice Keller took to social media to state why she thought these acts were happening,’ Timken said in a statement.
‘Candice Keller’s Facebook post was shocking and utterly unjustifiable.
‘Our nation is reeling from these senseless acts of violence and public servants should be working to bring our communities together, not promoting divisiveness.’
Timken’s spokesperson said the party leader has not personally spoken to Keller about her demand that she resign, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported.
Jane Timken (left), the head of the Ohio Republican Party, is calling on a GOP state lawmaker, State Rep. Candice Keller, to resign over an angry screed she posted on Facebook casting blame for mass shootings on gay marriage, President Obama and ‘snowflakes’
Keller dismissed Timken’s statement saying that ‘establishment moderates have never been fans of mine because I ran against their endorsement and won.
‘As the only conservative in this race, I will be taking my Senate campaign to the voters to decide.’
This is the first time that Timken has called on an Ohio official to resign since she was picked to lead the state Republican Party in January 2017.
Keller is under no legal obligation to resign. In Ohio, state lawmakers can either be voted out of office or removed if they are convicted of a felony.
The Ohio Constitution allows for a lawmaker to be removed by a two-thirds vote of the state House of Representatives.
Keller, of Middletown in suburban Cincinnati, took to social media on Sunday in the aftermath of a mass shooting in Dayton that claimed nine lives and left 27 people injured, and one day after a gunman opened fire inside a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, killing 20 people.
‘After every mass shooting, the liberals start the blame game. Why not place the blame where it belongs?’ Keller, who is a vocal supporter of President Donald Trump, wrote.
Keller took to Facebook to share her views just hours after a gunman opened fire in Dayton, Ohio, killing nine and injuring 27 people
Evidence markers of shell casings line the street at the scene of the deadly shooting in the Oregon District of Dayton, Ohio
Connor Betts, 24 (left), carried out the massacre in Ohio a day after 21-year-old Patrick Crusius opened fire inside a crowded El Paso, Texas, Walmart
She then went on to list some of the factors that, in her view, bear responsibility for mass shootings in the US: ‘The breakdown of the traditional American family (than you transgender, homosexual marriage, and drag queen advocates); fatherlessness, a subject no one discusses or believes is relevant; the ignoring of violent video games; the relaxing of laws against criminals (open borders); the acceptance of recreational marijuana; failed school policies (hello, parents who defend misbehaving students): disrespect of law enforcement (thank you, Obama); hatred of our veterans (thank you, professional athletes who hate our flag and National Anthem); the Dem Congress, many members whom [sic] are openly anti-Semitic; the culture, which totally ignores the importance of God and the church (until they elect a President); state officeholders, who have no interest whatsoever in learning about our Constitution and the Second Amendment; and snowflakes, who can’t accept a duly-elected President.’
Keller concluded her screed by writing: ‘did I forget anybody? The list is long. And the fury will continue.’
The state lawmaker, who also runs an anti-abortion pregnancy resource center, has since made her status update private, but not before it has begun circulating on social media.
Cincinnati City Councilman Chris Seelbach, a Democrat who is openly gay, shared a screenshot of Keller’s post on Twitter and urged his followers to call her office in Columbus, as Cincinnati Enquirer first reported.
Cincinnati City Councilman Chris Seelbach, a Democrat, shared a screenshot of Keller’s post on Twitter and urged his followers to call her office in Columbus
‘Ohio State Representative Candice Keller (represents Middletown, Ohio) says the shootings happened because of my marriage to Craig,’ Seelbach wrote in his tweet accompanying the image of Keller’s Facebook post.
Brian Hester, Butler County Democratic Party chairman, blasted Keller for her remarks, calling her ‘an embarrassment.’
‘To blame these shootings on some of the very people who have been targeted is offensive to those victims as well as the nine people who were murdered in Dayton this morning and to their grieving friends and family members,’ Hester told the Cincinnati Enquirer.
Butler County Republican Party Chairman Todd Hall also came out against Keller, saying he could not condone her ‘comment and behavior.’
Keller has a history of making incendiary comments.
Keller, who runs an anti-abortion resource center, ones likened Planned Parenthood to Nazis. Keller is running for the Ohio Senate in Butler County in 2020
In 2017, she likened Planned Parenthood to Nazis and appeared on a white supremacy advocate’s radio show.
Keller is running for the Butler county seat in the Ohio Senate in 2020.
She recently said she’s stepping back from legislation proposing a tax benefit for donors to anti-abortion centers like hers.
Keller is executive director of such a center and reports making between $50,000 and $99,000 annually.
Keller’s decision followed criticism by the state Democratic chairman that Keller was self-dealing.