The American newspaper, The Hill, said that in the midst of the epidemic, growing concerns about the future of democracy, an erratic economic recovery, and a former president refusing to step down, politics in the United States during the year 2021 was full of anxiety and anger.
But beyond the bleak headlines, some stories remind us that politics in this country can be an exercise full of wit, as it can attract the incompetent, the weird, the fraudulent and the totally uncommon to run for political office, serve in public office, or try to influence the national debate.
Here are the strangest stories that have marked the American political scene over the past year:
Utah governor threatens impeachment because of his name
Last August, an angry but unidentified citizen sent a letter to Republican Governor Spencer Cox asking him to change his last name or else “all decent people” in his home state would campaign to remove him from office.
“I don’t know if you know this but when people say your nickname it sounds like another obscene word!” Cox wrote in his online message. “Because of your reluctance to change your hateful, filthy, obscene nickname, I and thousands of other Utahns will protest and will not We’ll stop until you change your gruesome nickname to something a little less obscene.”
A prominent Democrat loses to a truck driver
New Jersey Senate Speaker Stephen Sweeney, a Democrat, was for years considered one of the state’s most powerful political figures, a nuisance to conservatives – Democrats and Republicans alike – with whom he clashed over just about everything.
But even so, this seasoned politician couldn’t stand a commercial truck driver named Ed Doer, who spent little money on his Republican presidential campaign and so much effort knocking on voters’ doors, denying his rival the chance to be re-elected in November. the past.
Fake Florida Filter
Republican Alan Garcia managed to win a Florida county during the 2020 election by a slim margin of 32 votes over Democratic incumbent Jose Javier Rodriguez, but a third candidate, Alex Rodriguez, received 6,382 votes.
It later turned out that Rodriguez had been recruited and pushed by former Republican Senator Frank Artells to run for the seat, and his mission was not to win, but merely to confuse voters and make them think they were voting for Democratic incumbent Jose Javier Rodriguez.
The authorities have brought 3 criminal charges against Artels, including transferring more than 44,000 dollars to the fake candidate, including paying the latter 10,000 dollars for a used Range Rover that did not even exist.
“Key” to the success of Michigan State Representative
Michigan Democratic Representative Jewell Jones faced a major problem last September when he was arrested for violating the terms of his pledge not to drive under the influence, but he made matters worse after he appeared in prison with a wrench in one of his feet.
This move led to two new charges against Jones, one of bringing a weapon to prison and one linked to his attempted escape, and the two new charges could send this power worker away into prison for half a decade.
The eternally young candidate
Audrey Clement has run multiple times in Arlington, Virginia, but her potential voters are a little confused about her age. This “permanent nominee” has told the media in the past that she’s in her mid-50s, but when a reporter from The Washington Post looked through the records It became clear to her that she was born in 1949, 20 years before the date she claimed, and when asked about this contradiction, she relied on the Fifth Amendment of the American Constitution, which provides for the right of individuals not to incriminate themselves.