With control of the General Assembly down to just a handful of seats, even the smallest mistakes could be the difference between victory and defeat.
One Democratic candidate for Delegate just made a decision which could cost him his race.
And it’s all because of one sexual slur he used on social media.
With control over the House of Delegates likely coming down to just a handful of districts across the Commonwealth, Democrat candidate for Delegate Joshua Cole is poised to rake in a significant amount of outside support from state and national Democrats who view his campaign as critical to Democrats flipping the House in November.
But when trying to make a point about his opposition to the NRA and the Second Amendment earlier this summer, Cole may have ended up landing himself in hot water.
It all began when Cole, who is seeking to represent House District 28 in Stafford County and the City of Fredericksburg, chose to tweet a series of attacks directed at the National Rifle Association and Virginians who “scream” “but my 2nd amendment rights….”.
“What do we do? We let the NRA come into our communities… legislators taunt their NRA endorsements and scream, “but my 2nd amendment rights….” they offer thoughts and prayers – and then don’t do a thing about the senseless bloodshed,” Cole tweeted in late May from Miami, Florida.
In a subsequent follow-up tweet, Cole stated “We MUST hold @NRA accountable and every politician who bends over for them.”
There are several phrases Cole could have used to describe what he thinks certain politicians do for the NRA.
Yet, the slur was used just weeks after Cole had posted on twitter “Virginia is for all lovers #LGBT #LoveVA #keepgrowingblue #jcole4va #lovefxbg” with a photo of one of his campaign T-shirts and an “LGBT Democrats of Virginia” sticker with the phrase “Virginia is for ALL Lovers”.
With one move, Cole has shown that he is willing to use LGBT voters for electoral gain, while at the same time he’s willing to use anti-gay slurs to level political attacks against his opponents in order to make them seem weak.
It’s a contradiction that could land Cole, who is seeking to pick up one of the most hotly contested seats in the Virginia House of Delegates this fall, in serious political hot water.
With the upcoming election in HD 28 likely going to come down to the wire, Cole needs the support of very voter he can take in order to flip the Republican-held district.
But careless comments and the cynical use of identity politics could be his downfall.