Rogues Gallery: House and Senate Members or Candidates that are too extreme to receive our endorsement.
Showing up in this list, probably, indicates that the candidates will never receive an endorsement from the Centrist Independent Voter. It is possible that, if one member of the Rogues Gallery were running against anther member of the group, we might choose the lesser of the two evils.
The criteria for entering the Rogues Gallery at this point include: being a super progressive or an extreme right wing politician; support for Vladimir Putin (including opposition for aid to Ukraine); receiving a Trump endorsement (especially if running against a Republican who has criticized Trump); receiving an endorsement from the “Working Families Party” (particularly if running against a Democrat who does not have this endorsement), Democrats who held the infrastructure bill hostage in order to get their social welfare legislation passed; Republicans who voted against the Infant Baby Formula Bill; or Republicans who voted against the bill to fast-track visas for Afghans who provided crucial assistance to the U.S. military.
We try not to included someone as a Rogue, in this first list, based on only one criterion. Extreme members of Congress tend to be consistently extreme.
Senate Democrats
Bernie Sanders, Vermont
Elizabeth Warren, Massachusetts
Alex Padilla, California
Ed Markey, Massachusetts
Ben Ray Lujan, New Mexico
Senate Republicans
Josh Hawley, Missouri
Roger Marshall, Kansas
Ted Cruz, Texas
Cindy-Hyde Smith, Mississippi
Tommy Tuberville, Alabama
House Democrats
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, NY
Ilhan Omar, Minnisota
Mark Pocan, Wisconsin
Ayanna Pressley, Massachusetts
Rashida Tlaib, Michigan
Pramila Jayapal, Washington
Cori Bush, Missouri
House Republicans
Marjorie Taylor-Green, Georgia
Matt Gaetz, Florida
Andy Biggs, Arizona
Andy Harris, Maryland
Lauren Boebert, Colorado
Mo Brooks, Alabama (his opponent in the Republican primary also qualifies as a Rogue)
Bill Posey, Florida
Madison Cawthorn, North Carolina (Defeated in 5/17/22 Republican Primary)
Special Single Issue Rogues Gallery Criteria
Some things are so important that a single issue can put a candidate into the Rogues Gallery. These include a Trump endorsement in the Republican primary, endorsement by the Working Families Party during the Democratic primary and voting against U.S. aid to Ukraine.
Special Rogues Gallery for the 2022 Republican Primary: Trump Endorsement
During the primary season our feeling is that a Trump endorsement qualifies a candidate for the Rogues Gallery. This may or may not be the case during the general election, since it depends on the Democratic candidate who opposes them.
At this point we are aware of the following Trump endorsements:
Pennsylvania: Mehmet Oz for U.S. Senate
Ohio: J.D. Vance for U.S. Senate
Georgia: David Perdue for Governor and Herschel Walker for U.S. Senate
Special Rogues Gallery for the 2022 Democratic Primary
During the primary season our feeling is that an endorsement by the Working Families Party qualifies a candidate for the Rogues Gallery. The Working Families Party represents the far left wing of the Democratic Party plus some candidates so far left that they cannot run as Democrats. Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are all members of the Working Families Party. Whether the WFP endorsed candidates remain in the Rogues Gallery for the general election depends on who their Republican opponents are.
Special Rogues Gallery Based on a Vote Against the Bi-partisan Bill to Aid Ukraine
The following 57 members of the U.S. House of Representatives voted against the Bi-partisan aid package for Ukraine.
Jodey Arrington of Texas
Brian Babin of Texas
Jim Banks of Indiana
Andy Biggs of Arizona
Gus Bilirakis of Florida
Dan Bishop of North Carolina
Lauren Boebert of Colorado
Ken Buck of Colorado
Tim Burchett of Tennessee
Kat Cammack of Florida
Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina (Defeated in 5/17/22 Republican Primary)
Michael Cloud of Texas
Andrew Clyde of Georgia
James Comer of Kentucky
Warren Davidson of Ohio
Scott DesJarlais of Tennessee
Byron Donalds of Florida
Jeff Duncan of South Carolina
Ron Estes of Kansas
Russ Fulcher of Idaho
Matt Gaetz of Florida
Bob Gibbs of Ohio
Louie Gohmert of Texas
Bob Good of Virginia
Paul Gosar of Arizona
Garret Graves of Louisiana
Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia
Diana Harshbarger of Tennessee
Vicky Hartzler of Missouri
Kevin Hern of Oklahoma
Yvette Herrell of New Mexico
Jody Hice of Georgia
Clay Higgins of Louisiana
Bill Huizenga of Michigan
Ronny Jackson of Texas
Mike Johnson of Louisiana
Jim Jordan of Ohio
Debbie Lesko of Arizona
Billy Long of Missouri
Tracey Mann of Kansas
Thomas Massie of Kentucky
Brian Mast of Florida
Mary Miller of Illinois
Barry Moore of Alabama
Troy Nehls of Texas
Ralph Norman of South Carolina
Scott Perry of Pennsylvania
John Rose of Tennessee
Matthew Rosendale of Montana
Chip Roy of Texas
Pete Sessions of Texas
Greg Steube of Florida
Tom Tiffany of Wisconsin
Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey
Beth Van Duyne of Texas
Bruce Westerman of Arkansas
Roger Williams of Texas.
The following 11 Republican Senators have entered our Rogues Gallery based on their opposition to the aid package in support of Ukraine’s effort to defend itself from the Russian invasion:
Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn.;
John Boozman, R-Ark.;
Mike Braun, R-Ind.;
Mike Crapo, R-Idaho;
Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn.;
Josh Hawley, R-Mo.;
Mike Lee, R-Utah;
Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo.;
Roger Marshall, R-Kan.;
Rand Paul, R-Ky.; and
Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala.
Special Rogues Gallery of Progressive Democrats Who Signed a Letter to Biden Undermining U.S. Support for Ukraine
The Washington Post published a story about 30 members of the Progressive Caucus of the Democratic Party who have urged Biden to bypass Ukraine and negotiate directly with Putin to end the war against Ukraine. This plays directly into Putin’s narrative about the war and has no chance of accomplishing a lasting peace.
Anyone who does not realize that lasting peace in Ukraine, and Eastern Europe generally, requires Russia’s defeat and Ukraine’s admission to NATO has not been paying attention.
Russia’s word on any peace agreement is meaningless. They previously agreed to respect Ukraine’s territorial integrity, including Crimea, in return for Ukraine handing over Soviet era nuclear weapons to Russia. The U.S. and the U.K. were co-signatories to that agreement. If America fails to support Ukraine, our word will also be meaningless.
If Russia is able to carve up Ukraine because it has nuclear weapons and Ukraine does not, we can expect all independent countries to acquire nuclear weapons in short order.
It is common for the far left and the far right to both be wrong. It is ironic that they are both wrong on this issue and are both taking, more or less, the same position. In this case both the extreme left and the extreme right have decided to play the role of “useful idiots” for the Kremlin.
Rep. Ruben Gallego, along with many other members of the Progressive Caucus, did have the wisdom to part company with the group of 30 on this issue. For that reason we are not including the entire Progressive Caucus in the Rogues Gallery. Here is a list of those who signed the letter to Biden.
