Meet the Senate Candidate Who Might be Too Crazy for Texas

—By Tim Murphy

| Tue Dec. 10, 2013 7:31 AM GMT

 

Rep. Steve Stockman (R-Texas). Steve Stockman/Facebook

Rep. Steve Stockman (R-Texas), the weirdest member of a Congress that also includes a Santa-impersonating reindeer herder and this guy, is challenging Sen. Cornyn (R-Texas) in next year's U.S. Senate primary. In an interview with WorldNetDaily, a birther website that once reported that President Obama had perhaps hidden his gay life in order to run for president, Stockman explained that he was entering the race—just before the filing deadline—because Cornyn had "undermined (Sen.) Ted Cruz's fight against Obamacare" and was guilty of "stabbing fellow Republicans in the back."
If his very short career in Washington is any indication, Stockman will at least give us a reason to tune in. Some highlights from his second term in Congress:

undermined (Sen.) Ted Cruz’s fight to stop Obamacare
Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2013/12/tea-party-favorite-takes-on-gop-big-name/#EWwys4WrHXRiUYdf.99

• His campaign bumper sticker: "If babies had guns, they wouldn't be aborted."
• This tweet: "The best thing about the Earth is if you poke holes in it oil and gas come out."
• And this one: "Democrats are playing the knockout game with your health insurance."
• The time he raffled off an AR-15 as a campaign fundraiser.
• The second time he raffled off an AR-15 as a campaign fundraiser.
• His interview with Ted Nugent, in which he wondered whether victims of gun violence who advocated for gun control were "useful idiots"?
• His decision to bring Nugent as his plus one to last year's state of the union.
• His (empty) threat to impeach President Obama over gun control.
• The time he compared Obama to Saddam Hussein.
• The time he explained he would vote against the Violence Against Women Act because it helps "men dressed up as women."
• The $350,000 in income that's unexplained in his personal financial disclosures.

And that was just his second act. As I reported last January, Stockman has mellowed some since the days when he was caught smuggling 30 mg of valium into jail by hiding it in his underwear. Or the time he showed up at the airport to go to his sister's wedding wearing nothing but a speedo. Or the time he publicly fretted that his interest in ceramics would cause voters to "think I'm a fag." But if Stockman can't beat Cornyn, he'll have to wait a while to get back to Washington; by Texas law, he can't run for re-election and seek a Senate seat at the same time.

 

Tim Murphy

Reporter

Tim Murphy is a reporter at Mother Jones. Email him with tips and insights at tmurphy [at] motherjones [dot] com. RSS | Twitter