MAGA Republican Joe Kent Acquired Donations From Alleged Jan. 6 Rioter

Joe Kent, a right-wing Republican who’s vying for a rematch towards Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-Wash.), obtained $8,600 in marketing campaign donations from an accused Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol rioter going through felony and misdemeanor fees.

The Division of Justice introduced earlier this month that it was charging Salisbury, Maryland, resident Carlos Ayala with civil dysfunction, a felony, in addition to a number of misdemeanors, together with knowingly coming into a restricted constructing, and knowingly partaking in disruptive conduct designed to intrude with authorities enterprise. Ayala’s arrest prompted him to resign from his put up as a Republican member of the Maryland State Board of Elections.

Ayala, who was sporting a painter’s masks and America-flag hoodie, stands accused of climbing over police barricades and poking his “We the People” flag at a U.S. Capitol Police officer guarding an entrance to the U.S. Capitol constructing. Later, when the door to the constructing was pressured open, Ayala allegedly threw the PVC pipe that had served as his flagpole into the constructing the place it struck an officer.

Later in 2021, Ayala, stepson to the former CEO of Perdue Farms, started contributing important sums to Kent’s congressional marketing campaign. In whole, Ayala contributed $8,600 to Kent’s 2022 marketing campaign. That whole contains $5,600 in direct contributions, and one other $3,000 to Kent’s joint victory fund – an account with fewer limits that Kent is utilizing to finance his present run as effectively.

The Kent marketing campaign doesn’t plan to return the cash to Ayala. “Joe Kent believes in due process,” marketing campaign spokesperson Erin Van Natta mentioned in a press release to HuffPost. “Mr. Ayala is innocent until proven guilty.”

Kent, a veteran of the U.S. particular forces, is a loyal supporter of former President Donald Trump, who believes that the 2020 election was “rigged and stolen” and has advised that the FBI was concerned in orchestrating the Capitol riot. Within the 2022 Republican major in Washington state’s third Congressional District, Kent unseated then-Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, one in all simply 10 Home Republicans who voted to question Trump after the Jan. 6 assault. Trump had carried the third District, which encompasses southwestern Washington state, by 4 share factors in 2020.

Nonetheless, with out the assist of average voters within the suburbs of Portland, Oregon, Kent misplaced to present Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, a self-described average Democrat who owns an auto restore store in Portland along with her husband.

Gluesenkamp Perez’s marketing campaign plans to inform average and unbiased voters that Kent, who’s hoping to unseat Gluesenkamp Perez this time, hasn’t modified his stripes.

“Joe Kent enjoys enthusiastic support from white nationalists, conspiracy theorists, and members of the January 6th mob,” Gluesenkamp Perez mentioned in a press release to HuffPost. “Weird, dangerous far-right extremists know Joe Kent is one of their own, and I’m the only thing standing between Joe Kent and a seat in Congress.”

Gluesenkamp Perez’s marketing campaign has additionally hit Kent for interviewing an area resident accused of election-related fraud fees in a marketing campaign video about infrastructure. The interviewee, former airline pilot John Ley, stands accused of registering to vote and submitting to run as a candidate for a state legislative by which he didn’t stay.

The overall election in Washington state’s third is prone to be one of many nearer Home races this November. For Democrats, holding swing seats is probably going a prerequisite for re-taking the Home. And flipping Democrat-held seats wherever potential makes Republicans’ job of defending their slim majority that a lot simpler.

It’s no shock that Kent has competitors for the Republican nomination this time. Leslie Lewallen, a Camas metropolis councilor, is operating a comparatively well-funded bid for the seat. Businessman Leslie “Nick” French of Camas can also be operating.

Washington state’s congressional major elections are set to happen on Aug. 6.