Watch: CNN anchor Alisyn Camerota has heated interview with 3rd Congressional District candidate Arthur Jones
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NEW YORK/CHICAGO (Heartland Newsfeed) — In a television interview Thursday, Alisyn Camerota from CNN’s New Day entered into a heated interview and debate with Arthur Jones, the solo Republican candidate for Illinois 3rd Congressional District.
In a lead-in to the interview, a YouTube video of Jones speaking before the National Socialist Party of Kentucky last year was aired, saying some derogatory terms about the Jewish people and other groups of people.
The former American Nazi Party leader was bombarded for the despicable actions and words he has said and what is on his campaign website.
Tim Schneider, chairman of the Illinois Republican Party issued the following statement regarding Jones:
The Illinois Republican Party and our country have no place for Nazis like Arthur Jones. We strongly oppose his racist views and his candidacy for any public office, including the 3rd Congressional District.
A spokeperson for the Republican National Committee, Michael Ahrens issued a short and sweet statement:
We condemn this candidate and his hateful rhetoric in the strongest possible terms.
The 3rd District has been represented by Democrat Dan Lipinski since 2005 and is seeking his eighth term in November, but not until he faces off against marketing consultant Marie Newman in the March 20 primary. With no interest from Republicans, it leaves unsavory characters to collect the signatures and become the unopposed Republican nominee for the seat.
The 2012 and 2014 Republican primaries brought forth their fair share of unsavorable characters. Richard Grabowski was the Republican nominee in 2012 and Sharon Brannigan won the nomination in 2014 in a heated primary against Diane Harris, who ran as a Republican in the 11th Congressional District.
There have been calls for an independent, new party or write-in alternative to both Lipinski. According to Ballotpedia, Mateusz “Mat” Tomkowiak expressed interest in running as an independent, as confirmed in a July 19, 2017 story of Daily Southtown inside the Chicago Tribune.
It is unclear as of this publication whether there will be any other candidates stepping up for the seat in November. The Illinois Green Party previously had major party status in 2010 and 2012 as a result of their candidate performances in 2008 and 2010, but lost their status in 2012 following the failure of nominating a candidate.
Jake Leonard, a broadcast media and journalism veteran, is the editor-in-chief of Heartland Newsfeed. Leonard is also GM and program director of Heartland Newsfeed Radio Network, wrestling editor and contributing writer for Ambush Sports, a contributing writer for My Sports Vote and Midwest Sports Network, and a former contributor to Bleacher Report and Overtime Heroics. He resides at home in Nokomis, Ill. with his dog Buster.
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