Trumpy Missouri Secretary of State Candidate Who Hurled Gay Slurs Loses Big

A foul-mouthed MAGA candidate for Missouri secretary of state might be doing some cursing at herself Tuesday night after finishing outside the top five in the GOP primary—and failing to win even a single county. Valentina Gomez, who littered her campaign with offensive statements about gay and transgender people, used derogatory language towards Vice President Kamala Harris, and called Juneteenth a “ratchet” holiday—all the while espousing her religious views—acquired less than eight percent of the vote, bringing to an end a theatrical campaign that at one point saw her take a flamethrower to a pile of LGBTQ-themed books that she deemed were “indoctrinating” children. That action was one of several that drew condemnation in recent months. “Attention-seeking candidates like this are not great at reading the room: voters have resoundingly rejected book bans and candidates promising to ban books,” Sarah Kate Ellis, the CEO of GLAAD, an LGTBQ advocacy organization, told The Advocate back in February.