U.S. Politics

[Rick Plant]

Watch: Ron Johnson attempts to flee through locked door as he avoids question on school shooting



Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) refused to answer a question about gun background checks on Wednesday.

CNN's Manu Raju caught up with Johnson in a Senate hallway following the mass shooting at a school in Uvalde, Texas. The senator immediately tried to avoid the CNN reporter by fleeing through a door that turned out to be locked.

"In the wake of this shooting, why not expand background checks, including on firearms and all gun sales?" Raju asked.

Johnson, however, pretended not to notice the reporter who was inches from him.

"Why not expand background checks?" Raju pressed.

Johnson continued ignoring Raju until the senator eventually found an unlocked door and disappeared.

According to the Brady Campaign, Johnson has received $1,269,486 from the National Rifle Association.

Watch: https://twitter.com/victorjacobo_/status/1529512043279265794

[Rick Plant]

Herschel Walker’s Response to the Uvalde Shooting Was Incoherent. So Is His Senate Bid

The former Heisman Trophy winner is riding Trump’s endorsement — and not much else — to a showdown with incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock


Heisman Trophy winner and Republican candidate for Senate Herschel Walker speaks at a rally on May 23, 2022, in Athens, Georgia.

"What I like to do is see it and everything and stuff.”

This is how Hershel Walker responded on Tuesday night when asked about gun control in the wake of a shooter killing 21 people, including 19 children, at an Uvalde, Texas, elementary school hours earlier.

Manu Raju @mkraju

Asked if he believes there should be new gun laws in the wake of the Texas shooting, Georgia Senate GOP nominee Herschel Walker told me in ATL: “What I like to do is see it and everything and stuff.” He didn’t engage further.

Watch: https://twitter.com/i/status/1529281988158541825

The hollow incoherence on display here is sadly typical of the man Georgia’s Republican voters just deemed worthy of representing them in the Congress.

Walker is best known for his Heisman Award-winning turn at the University of Georgia, followed by a relatively lackluster career in the NFL. He hasn’t done much since that would indicate he’d be a capable public servant. He has, however, pledged his allegiance to Trump and flirted with the conspiracy theory that the 2020 election was rigged, landing him the former president’s endorsement and, in turn, frontrunner status to land the nomination.

Walker doesn’t have much in his background to portend a career in Congress, but he does have a history full of red flags indicating he’s unfit for office, which is probably why Republicans have been warning that he has little chance to unseat incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock in the general election this fall. Here’s a brief list of the warning signs that Walker could be a disaster should he wind up in Congress.

He’s a compulsive liar

The scant few qualifications Walker may have for public office are largely fabrications. The Associated Press reported last summer that though Walker has repeatedly claimed his company employs hundreds of people, brings in $70-$80 million a year, and owns a chicken processing division. None of this is true. The company listed just eight employees when it applied for a Covid loan in 2020. Walker admitted in a court case that the company brings in less than $2 million a year. He doesn’t own chicken processing plants, either; he only licenses his name to them. The Daily Beast reported last month that Walker also lied about owning the nation’s largest upholstery business.

Walker has lied about his academic achievements, as well. CNN reported in April that though Walker has repeatedly claimed to have been the valedictorian of his high school and graduated from the University of Georgia in the top one percent of his class, there’s no evidence either claim is true. CNN even points to stories from the time about Walker saying he maintained a B average at UGA, and that he had a 3.0 GPA before his grades began to suffer. He never graduated, having left school early to enter the NFL draft.

Walker’s most ridiculous lie, however, may be that Trump has never claimed the 2020 election was stolen. “I’ve never heard President Trump ever say that,” he said.

The Republican Accountability Project @AccountableGOP

According to Herschel Walker, Trump has never said the election was stolen.

Watch: https://twitter.com/i/status/1529104369928785920


He doesn’t believe in evolution

It shouldn’t come as a shock that Walker didn’t finish in the top of class considering some of the hare-brained beliefs he’s spouted. He seemed perplexed about evolution, for example, during a church appearance in March. “At one time, science said man came from apes, did it not?” he said “If that is true, why are there still apes? Think about it.”

He’s pushed quack Covid remedies

Trump once suggested that Covid could be cured by bringing “light inside the body.” Walker has made similarly outlandish claims.

“Do you know right now, I have something that [you can bring] into a building, that will clean you of Covid, as you walk through this, this dry mist?” he told Glenn Beck in the summer of 2020. “As you walk through the door, it will kill any Covid on your body,” he added, claiming the product was “EPA-, FDA-approved.”

Walker said that “they” don’t want the public to know about the miracle spray.

He has a long history of abusive and threatening behavior

Walker has talked openly about his struggles with mental health, writing in his 2008 book that he has experienced violent urges. Walker has on multiple occasions described playing Russian roulette, and has also threatened physical harm on those close to him.

The Associated Press uncovered court documents showing that Walker’s ex-wife, Cindy Grossman — who filed for divorce in 2001, citing “physically abusive and extremely threatening behavior” — in 2005 filed for a protective order against her ex-husband. She claimed Walker was unable to accept that she was dating someone else and started calling her family members. Her sister said Walker threatened to kill Grossman and her new boyfriend, “stat[ing] unequivocally that he was going to shoot my sister Cindy and her boyfriend in the head.”

The threats continued, with Walker telling Grossman’s sister that he wanted to “blow their fucking heads off.” He also allegedly confronted Grossman at a mall, during which he “slowly drove by in his vehicle, pointed his finger at [her] and traced [her] with his finger as he drove,” according to Grossman.

The protective order was granted, and a judge temporarily banning Walker from possessing firearms. When his book was released in 2008, Grossman elaborated on Walker’s abuse in an interview with ABC News, alleging he held a gun to her head in 2001 said, “I’m going to blow your fucking brains out.”

He was too scared to show up for the Republican primary debates

Walker has bailed on the Republican primary debates, opting instead to stick to events where he can control the narrative while letting Trump’s endorsement buoy his polling numbers. “Herschel Walker is ignoring the Georgia voters and ignoring us,” Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black said during one of them in May. “If that’s what he does now, that’s what he’ll do in the future.”


Georgia U.S. Senate candidate Latham Saddler points at an empty podium belonging to candidate Herschel Walker as he participates in a Republican primary debate on Tuesday, on May 3, 2022, in Atlanta.

He won’t acknowledge that President Biden won the 2020 election

The primary prerequisite for landing an endorsement from Trump is a belief in the conspiracy theory that the 2020 election was stolen. Walker hasn’t railed against election fraud like some of Trump’s other preferred candidates, but he certainly isn’t acknowledging that Trump lost to Biden. “I don’t know,” told The New York Times when asked if Biden won. “I do think there was problems. And I think everybody else thinks there was problems, and that’s the reason right now everybody’s so upset.”

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/herschel-walker-georgia-senate-primary-1357872/

[Rick Plant]

This article is from last year, but even law enforcement was concerned about this dangerous Texas gun law that allows anybody under the sun to carry a gun without a permit or a background check. 18 year olds in Texas can now purchase any amount of guns and ammo they want while they still are not allowed to purchase alcohol or tobacco legally until they are 21. 

New Texas law allowing people to carry handguns without permits stirs mix of fear, concern among law enforcement

Starting Sept. 1, most Texans will be able to carry handguns in public without going through training or having to get permits. Law enforcement officers worry that could make their jobs more dangerous.

AUG. 16, 2021

A new state law will soon let most Texans carry handguns in public without going through training or having to get permits. Gov. Greg Abbott lauded the so-called “constitutional carry” legislation and other firearms bills when he signed them into law.

“You could say that I signed into law today some laws that protect gun rights,” Abbott said at the bill signing in June. “But today, I signed documents that instilled freedom in the Lone Star State.”

But some Texas law enforcement officers fear that removing restrictions to carrying handguns could increase crime rates while putting officers and residents in danger.

“When it comes down to it, it’s just a sense of disappointment that the bill ultimately was passed,” said Kevin Lawrence, executive director of the Texas Municipal Police Association.

Conservative activists have long pushed for a permitless carry law in Texas, but such measures got little traction in the previous three legislative sessions. In 2019, a permitless carry bill didn’t even get a committee hearing in the Texas House.

When lawmakers gaveled in for the 2021 regular legislative session in January — the first since back-to-back mass shootings in El Paso and Midland-Odessa — some legislators expected to pass substantive firearm restrictions.

Instead, the Texas Legislature moved in the other direction.

Advocates of permitless carry said a shakeup in House leadership and the growing number of states with similar laws meant this year was their best chance to get a bill through. The Senate and House passed different versions of House Bill 1927, but agreed to a negotiated piece of legislation in May. The House approved the final version 82-62.

It was part of a slew of pro-gun legislation that lawmakers passed this year. Other measures passed include a bill that would bar government contracts with those who discriminate against the firearm industry as a whole, one that would remove firearm suppressors from the state’s list of prohibited weapons, and a House bill that prohibits state and local governments from enforcing new federal gun regulations.

“Texas is finally a pro-gun state despite years of foot-dragging, roadblocks, and excuses from the spineless political class,” Texas Gun Rights executive director Chris McNutt said in a statement after Abbott signed the bill. “I’m proud of the work grassroots gun owners have put in to get Texas Constitutional Carry finally signed into law.”

None of the five lead authors of HB 1927 responded to requests for comment.

Currently, Texans are mostly required to be licensed to carry handguns, regardless of whether they are open or concealed. To attain a license, applicants are required to submit fingerprints, complete four to six hours of training, and pass a written exam and shooting proficiency test. This doesn’t apply to rifles, which do not require licenses to be carried in public.

The new law — set to go into effect Sept. 1 — will allow anyone 21 years or older to carry a handgun in public without need for a permit or training as long as they aren’t otherwise prohibited from owning a firearm by law, such as people with felony or domestic violence convictions.

Most Texas voters opposed the idea of allowing people to carry handguns in public places without permits or licenses, according to a University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll conducted in April. Although 56% of Republicans supported unlicensed carry, 59% of all voters opposed it.

Texas law enforcement officers voiced staunch opposition to the new law as it moved through the Legislature.

“I don’t know what it’s a solution to,” said James McLaughlin, executive director of the Texas Police Chiefs Association. “I don’t know what the problem was to start with.”

Lawrence, also the chair of trustees for the Texas Fraternal Order of Police, said part of the reason the bill got support was because of some increased crime rates last year, leading Texans to fear that law enforcement might not be able to protect them. He also noted it could have partially been pushback to calls last year to “defund the police,” a movement that aims to lower law enforcement budgets and reallocate funds to social service programs.

“The entire process was done to appease a certain block of voters, to appease a very, very vocal, active group that were just demanding that they be allowed to carry guns,” he said.

Lawmakers added several amendments to the bill to assuage law enforcement’s concerns, including a requirement that the Department of Public Safety offer a free online firearm safety training course.

Ray Hunt, executive director of the Houston Police Officers’ Union, said the bill could potentially have grave consequences for law enforcement officers, noting that it could be harder for them to decipher whether someone carrying a weapon is legally able to do so.

His opposition toward the bill lessened after lawmakers changed it to ease law enforcement’s worries about certain provisions, including one that would have banned officers from questioning a person based solely on their possession of a handgun.

Hunt and other law enforcement officials hope their fears over the permitless carry law won’t come to pass.

Law enforcement heavily condemned 2016’s “open carry” law that permits Texans to openly carry handguns in public as long as they have a permit. Many said they didn’t end up seeing noticeable effects after it passed.

“We were completely opposed to ‘license to carry’ when it happened, and we said all of the same arguments that we’re saying now,” Hunt said. “And nothing happened, so we’re hoping that we’re overreacting. We’re just concerned because anytime there’s more guns, there’s a problem.”

https://www.texastribune.org/2021/08/16/texas-permitless-carry-gun-law/

[Rick Plant]

Hours after Uvalde school shooting, Gov. Greg Abbott attended a fundraiser 300 miles away

A spokesperson for Abbott said he had previously committed to the event but all campaign-related activities are postponed until further notice.



Gov. Greg Abbott attended a fundraiser for his reelection campaign Tuesday night in East Texas, hours after a gunman killed 19 children and two adults at an elementary school over 300 miles away in Uvalde. His campaign says he is postponing all political activities going forward.

Abbott went to the fundraiser after visiting Taylor County — another part of the state — to survey the state's wildfire response there. While holding a news conference there, he gave an update on the Uvalde shooting, which had just happened.

The news of Abbott's attendance at the fundraiser was first reported by Quorum Report.

"After holding a briefing and press conference on the current wild fires in Taylor County, where he also provided an update the situation in Uvalde, the Governor did stop by a previously scheduled event last night at a private home in Walker County," Abbott campaign spokesperson Mark Miner said in a statement. "All campaign and political activity, including a scheduled fundraiser for this evening, have postponed until further notice."

Abbott addressed the fundraiser during a news conference Wednesday afternoon in Uvalde, suggesting he only made a brief appearance cut short by the news of the shooting.

"On the way back to Austin, I stopped and let people know that I could not stay, that I needed to go and I wanted them to know what happened and get back to Austin so I could continue to my collaboration with Texas law enforcement," Abbott said.

Abbott, a prolific fundraiser, is running for a third term against Democratic challenger Beto O'Rourke. O'Rourke's response to the Uvalde shooting has included criticism of Abbott for loosening gun laws in Texas, and O'Rourke has called on Abbott to pull out of an appearance at a National Rifle Association convention this weekend in Houston.

Abbott's appearance at the fundraiser came as other Texas politicians were canceling similar events due to the tragedy. State Sen. Roland Gutierrez, D-San Antonio, who represents Uvalde, canceled a campaign fundraiser that had been scheduled for Tuesday evening in Austin. A Republican state representative, San Antonio's Steve Allison, also nixed a campaign fundraiser for Wednesday in Austin.

https://www.texastribune.org/2022/05/25/greg-abbott-political-fundraiser-uvalde-shooting/

[Rick Plant]

Beto O’Rourke confronts Texas Gov. Greg Abbott at Uvalde press conference: “This is on you”

O’Rourke’s disruption drew angry responses from the elected officials onstage, with Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin calling him a “sick son of a b**ch.”



Beto O’Rourke caused a dramatic scene Wednesday when he angrily confronted Gov. Greg Abbott at his the governor's news conference about the school shooting, yelling, "This is on you."

O’Rourke, who is running for governor against Abbott, moved to the third row of the Uvalde High School auditorium about 15 minutes after the governor began speaking to the media alongside other state and local leaders onstage. When Abbott concluded his comments and introduced Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, O’Rourke rose and walked to the stage and spoke directly to Abbott.

“You are doing nothing,” O’Rourke said. “You are offering up nothing. You said this was not predictable. This was totally predictable when you choose not to do anything.”

Some of the Republican officials onstage quickly denounced O'Rourke. U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz told him, "Sit down and don't play this stunt." Patrick told O'Rourke he was "out of line and an embarrassment." And Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin gave the most colorful response.

“I can’t believe that you’re a sick son of a b**ch that would come to a deal like this to make a political issue,” McLaughlin said.

Watch:

[Rick Plant]

Biden signs executive order on policing 2 years after George Floyd's death


President Biden signs an executive order on policing in the East Room of the White House on Wednesday, May 25, 2022.

Washington — President Biden signed an executive order aimed at reforming federal police practices and establishing a national database of police misconduct on Wednesday, two years to the day since George Floyd was murdered at the hands of police officers in Minneapolis.

"This executive order is going to deliver the most significant police reform in decades. It applies directly, under law, to only 100,000 federal law enforcement officers, all the federal law enforcement officers. And through federal incentives and best practices that are attached to it, we expect the order to have significant impact on state and local law enforcement agencies as well," he said.

The president delivered remarks at the White House and signed the order as the nation grieves the murder of 19 students and two teachers at an elementary school in Texas, the deadliest school shooting in nearly 10 years. The president said he would soon travel to Texas to meet with families of the victims, and implored Congress to pass new gun control measures in the wake of the massacre.

"While they clearly will not prevent every tragedy, we know certain ones will have significant impact and have no negative impact on the Second Amendment," Mr. Biden said. "The Second Amendment is not absolute."

The policing order is intended to "advance effective, accountable policing and criminal justice practices that will build public trust and strengthen public safety," according to the White House, by requiring federal law enforcement agencies to implement dozens of reforms, and incentivizing state and local forces to improve their policing practices.

Efforts to enact police reform in Congress have stalled in the two years since Floyd's death sparked a national reckoning on police brutality, with a bipartisan group of lawmakers failing to broker a compromise during lengthy negotiations last year. Mr. Biden's order seeks to address some of the issues raised during those talks, although his authority to implement changes on a state and local level is limited without further congressional action.

The president faulted Senate Republicans for blocking the House-passed bill, known as the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, and said the executive order "reflects inputs from a broad coalition represented here today," including several law enforcement organizations.

"I know progress can be slow and frustrating and there's a concern that the reckoning on race inspired two years ago is beginning to fade," Mr. Biden said. "But acting today, we're showing what our dear friend, the late John Lewis, congressman, wrote in his final words after his final march for justice in July 2020 — he said, 'Democracy is not a state. It is an act.'"

The families of Floyd and Breonna Taylor, who was killed in 2020 by officers executing a "no-knock" warrant in an apartment in Louisville, Kentucky, were present at Wednesday's signing ceremony in the East Room of the White House.

The executive order directs the attorney general to create a new National Law Enforcement Accountability Database, with all federal law enforcement agencies — such as the FBI, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Secret Service and Customs and Border Protection — required to participate. The database will include records of officers convicted of crimes, firings and "sustained complaints or records of disciplinary actions for serious misconduct," among other issues, and will be available to state and local agencies.

Non-federal entities are not required to report misconduct incidents to the new database, but are "encouraged" to do so, according to the White House.

"This is a call to action based on a basic truth: public trust, as any cop will tell you, is the foundation of public safety. Without trust, the population doesn't contribute, doesn't cooperate," Mr. Biden said. "As we've seen all too often, public trust has frayed and broken, and that undermines public safety."

The order also strengthens federal "patterns and practices" investigations over local agencies, mandates the use of body cameras by federal agents and requires all federal law enforcement agencies to implement new use-of-force policies, consistent with new guidelines issued by the Justice Department earlier this week. It also bans the use of chokeholds and limits the use of no-knock warrants by federal agents.

Democratic lawmakers and police reform advocates welcomed news of the executive order, even though it falls short of what could be accomplished with new legislation.

"I think the president's team — using the powers that he has — [has] done an excellent job of advancing the call that I think all Americans feel to do everything you can to improve the policing profession, to empower our officers with both accountability and support," Democratic Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey told CBS News on Tuesday.

NAACP President Derrick Johnson welcomed the executive order and said there was no better way to honor Floyd's legacy. "We know full well that an executive order cannot address America's policing crisis the same way Congress has the ability to, but we've got to do everything we can," he said in a statement.

https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/biden-policing-executive-order-george-floyd-watch-live-stream-today-2022-05-25/

[Rick Plant]

As expected, and as I predicted last week that it would happen, Senate Republicans yesterday blocked a bill to keep America safe from domestic terrorism from white supremacists. Republicans have zero interest in fighting crime and violence in America. Bill after bill that addresses crime and violence the GOP votes against. They are only there to block and obstruct President Biden's agenda that the overwhelming majority of Americans want. Then as more crimes and violence occurs, right wingers head to Twiiter or come on tv to scream about the crime rates and falsely blame Biden for it when they are the ones blocking legislation that will fight crime and violence.

Again, if you want anything accomplished in Congress, vote these obstructionist saboteur Republicans out of office who don't care to keep Americans safe. How can anyone in Congress vote against the biggest threat that faces America which is domestic terrorism from white supremacists? The Republicans just did. They don't deserve to be in office when they refuse to do the job they took an oath to do which is to defend and protect America.             

Top law enforcement officials say the biggest domestic terror threat comes from white supremacists.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/12/us/politics/domestic-terror-white-supremacists.html

Senate Republicans block bill requiring agencies to monitor domestic terrorism



WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Republicans on Thursday blocked a bill that would require federal agencies to monitor domestic terrorism incidents, including those potentially related to white supremacy.

The failure of the Senate procedural vote showed again how difficult it is for Congress to agree on any response to U.S. gun violence. It followed a racist mass shooting in Buffalo, New York, earlier this month that took the lives of 10 Black people in a predominantly Black neighborhood.

Another mass shooting, this one at an elementary school in Texas on Tuesday, killed 19 children and two adults.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer had scheduled the domestic terrorism legislation, already passed by the Democratic-controlled House, for a vote following the shooting in Buffalo.

“The bill is so important, because the mass shooting in Buffalo was an act of domestic terrorism. We need to call it what it is: domestic terrorism,” said Schumer, a New York Democrat.

“It was terrorism that fed off the poison of conspiracy theories like white replacement theory. Terrorism that left 10 people dead, and a community forever torn asunder.”

But senators fell far short of the 60-vote threshold needed to move debate forward on the legislation. Schumer through a procedural move could bring the bill, H.R. 350, up again if there is more support.

The vote was 47-47, with six senators not casting their votes. Only Democrats backed advancing the bill. The House on May 18 had passed the bill, 222-203, with just one Republican vote.

Meanwhile, Schumer said Democratic Sens. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Chris Coons of Delaware, Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, Joe Manchin III of West Virginia, and others are reaching out to Republican senators to work on some type of bipartisan gun control legislation.

“Make no mistake about it, if these negotiations do not bear fruit in a short period of time, the Senate will vote on gun safety legislation,” he said. “But our hope, even amidst our deep skepticism, is that during this week, Democrats and Republicans at long last will come to agree on something meaningful that will reduce gun violence in a real way in America.”

Schumer on the floor Wednesday had implored Senate Republicans to join Democrats in passing the domestic terrorism bill, as well as bipartisan gun control legislation, in reaction to this month’s mass shootings.

The domestic terrorism legislation creates domestic terrorism offices within the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice, and the FBI to monitor domestic terrorist activity and requires Congress to take steps to prevent domestic terrorism. That includes white-supremacist-related incidents or attempted incidents.

The bill also “creates an interagency task force to analyze and combat white supremacist and neo-Nazi infiltration of the uniformed services and federal law enforcement agencies,” according to a bill summary.

Shortly before the procedural vote, Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky said the bill would brand police and military service members as white supremacists.

“To insinuate that the military is consumed with white supremacy is an insult,” Paul said on the Senate floor.

The Pentagon drafted a report, obtained by Roll Call, that found U.S. military personnel and veterans were considered high prizes as recruits for white supremacist groups.

The chair of the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, said that the bill would not create any new laws, and the purpose of it is for Congress to be informed of reports of domestic terrorism.

Durbin said on the Senate floor that it’s important to include the threat of white supremacy in that category because “this is a category of crime in America that is metastasizing.”

There have been several shootings in the last few years that have targeted communities of color and places of worship. Besides Buffalo, that includes Atlanta, where shootings at several spa shops targeted Asian-American women; El Paso, Texas, where dozens of Latinos were gunned down; and Pittsburgh, where the Tree of Life synagogue was targeted.

https://michiganadvance.com/2022/05/26/u-s-senate-republicans-block-bill-requiring-agencies-monitor-domestic-terrorism/

[Rick Plant]

GOP frontrunners for Michigan governor kicked off ballot for election fraud



Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer may have a far easier path to re-election after the GOP frontrunners were kicked off the ballot for botched election fraud schemes.

"Two of the leading candidates for the GOP nomination for Michigan governor say they will ask the courts to intervene after they were found ineligible Thursday for the August primary, reshaping the race to challenge Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in the battleground state this fall," Click on Detroit Channel 4 News reported Thursday.

"Former Detroit Police Chief James Craig, who has led in most primary polls, and businessman Perry Johnson, along with three other lesser-known candidates, did not qualify for the ballot. The state elections bureau recommended they be disqualified, saying it found thousands of fraudulent signatures on petitions submitted by the candidates."

Neil Vigdor wrote in The New York Times the disqualification, "sent the race, in a key battleground state, into chaos and dealt a serious blow to the party’s plans to challenge Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, the Democratic incumbent."

In addition to the frontrunners, Republicans Donna Brandenburg, Michael Brown and Michael Markey were also disqualified.

Johnson has spent millions on his campaign.

"The Republicans who remain on the ballot are Dixon, who recently was endorsed by the family of former Trump administration Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, real estate agent Ryan Kelley, businessman Kevin Rinke, pastor Ralph Rebandt and chiropractor Garrett Soldano," Channel 4 reported.

Watch: