Jacob Chansley, known as the QAnon Shaman due to his distinct appearance during the Jan. 6 insurrection, filed paperwork on Nov. 9 to run for Congress in Arizona. According to Axios, Chansley, who completed roughly half of his 41-month sentence in federal prison, was released to a halfway house in Phoenix in March of 2023. Axios reported that the United States Constitution does not bar people convicted of a felony from holding any public office they aspire to.
According to NBC News, Republican Rep. Debbie Lasko announced in October that she would not be seeking reelection; thus, her seat is now up for grabs. Chansley, as NBC
reported, became the public face of the insurrection because not only was he among the first group to enter the Capitol building, but he grabbed a bullhorn and began riling up the crowd by demanding that legislators be brought out, according to a sentencing memo. The memo indicates that Chansley photographed himself in the Senate galley, refused to leave when ordered by Capitol police, and left a note for then Vice-President Mike Pence that read,“ It’s Only A Matter Of Time. Justice Is Coming!”Chansley, however, will be running as a Libertarian candidate, not a Republican, according to the Arizona Republic
, which reported that a candidate statement of interest was filed by Jacob Angeli-Chansley indicating that he intends to run affiliated with the Libertarian Party. The race to fill the vacant seat is so crowded that the Republic reports that Angeli-Chansley is not the only former insurrectionist to run for Arizona’s 8th District seat.In general, Libertarians describe themselves as being fiscally conservative and socially liberal while also believing in a small or limited government that does not interfere in the lives of people. According to the California Secretary of State’s office, Adrian F. Malagon, the Chair of
California’s Libertarian Party, describes their beliefs as follows: “We believe that the most peaceful, prosperous, socially fair, and tolerant society is one that solves its problems without government force.”According to the outlet, there is a logjam of Republicans vying for the seat, which includes Arizona state Sen. Anthony Kern from Glendale, who, along with Angeli-Chansley, was among the insurrectionists at the Capitol. In addition to Kern, Arizona House Speaker Ben Toma; Blake Masters, who lost his bid for U.S. Senate in 2022; candidate for Arizona Attorney General in 2022 Abe Hamadeh; Trent Franks, who previously held the seat but resigned in 2017 due to controversy; Seth Coates; Isaiah Gallegos; Jimmy Rodriguez; Rollie Stevens; and Brandon Urness.
According to Oregon Public Radio, Angeli-Chansley has disavowed the QAnon movement despite previously referring to himself as the QAnon Shaman. They attempted to reach Angeli-Chansley and his attorney to clarify his political aspirations, but those emails were not returned.
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