Confederate Statue Defender Wins GOP Nomination for Senate in Virginia

Virginia Republicans have selected Corey Stewart, best known for his love of Donald Trump, his defenses of Confederate monuments and his attacks on undocumented immigrants, as their nominee this November against Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine.

Kaine will be a heavy favorite in his re-election bid. Virginia is an increasingly blue state, with Gov. Ralph Northam winning there by 9 percentage points in 2017 after Hillary Clinton won the state in 2016. And Kaine’s time as a vice presidential candidate increased his national profile, helping him accumulate a campaign war chest of more than $10.5 million, according to Federal Election Commission records.

Still, the selection of Stewart shows how Trump-inspired candidates can thrive in today’s Republican Party. Stewart, who began cracking down on undocumented immigrants as the chair of the Prince William County Board of Supervisors long before Trump started his 2016 presidential bid, served as Trump’s state chairman before he was fired for protesting the Republican National Committee.

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Stewart made an unsuccessful run for Virginia governor in 2017, when he nearly upset former Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie in the GOP primary. In that race, Stewart emphasized his defense of statues of Confederate generals, comparing politicians who sought to take them down to ISIS extremists. {snip}

“Nothing is worse than a Yankee telling a Southerner that his monuments don’t matter,” the Duluth, Minnesota-born Stewart wrote on Twitter last year, drawing widespread mockery.

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Stewart has focused more on immigration and his support of Trump in this year’s run, but has still brought up statues on occasion.