Rogues Gallery of Candidates

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.

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