Far-right activist Laura Loomer has lost her long-shot House bid in Florida, despite support from Donald Trump and other leading Republicans. Loomer, who has been banned from most social networks and Uber and Lyft for her attacks on Muslims, emerged from the Republican primary in Florida as the rare MAGA internet candidate who was able to actually secure a party nomination. But she failed to oust Rep. Lois Frankel (D-FL) in the heavily Democratic district, with AP calling the race in favor of Frankel at 8:00 Eastern.
Loomer has launched hateful attacks on Muslims, calling for the creation of a rideshare company that wouldn’t employ Muslims and a ban on Muslims holding office in the United States. But Trump congratulated her on primary win anyway, and Trump daughter-in-law Lara Trump joined her on the campaign trail. Loomer was also endorsed by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and former Trump adviser Roger Stone, who lent his name to urgent fundraising efforts for Loomer in the final days of the campaign.
Loomer faced a near-hopeless fight from the start against Frankel, who has cruised to re-election since her 2012 election and didn’t even face a Republican in 2018. But Loomer and her supporters, which included a motley assortment of other far-right figures, insisted she stood a good chance of winning. At one point, Loomer claimed that she had written taunting letters to her critics that she planned to mail out after winning the general election. “Winning is the only option for me,” Loomer told her supporters in July.
