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Raoul slams Harold in new online ad

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Illinois
YouTube

* Press release…

As we celebrate Pride Month, Kwame Raoul’s campaign for Attorney General has released a new video, “Republican Erika Harold: Wrong for Illinois,” highlighting her shocking views on the safety of children and same-sex couples who wish to care for them.

“As both a father and public servant, it’s unconscionable to me that the safety of a child would ever be up for debate,” said Kwame Raoul. “When I was a county prosecutor, I took children out of abusive homes and helped place them with loving families without prejudice. Discrimination has no place in our laws, and my focus as attorney general will be on protecting at-risk children and defending the equal rights we’ve fought so hard to secure.”

* Rate it…

* Transcript…

Republican Attorney General candidate Erika Harold … was being hit from both the right and the left for something she is quoted as saying at a beauty pageant.

Harold was asked… “If you had to place a child in foster care, and the choices were either A) a loving gay couple, or B) a heterosexual couple who were known child abusers, who would you choose?”

Harold reportedly stated she would choose to place a child in an abusive heterosexual home.

One of the pageant officials tells us, “Her answer stopped the room.”

* Back to the Raoul campaign…

Harold has repeatedly supported policies that discriminate against LGBTQ individuals. During her 2014 congressional campaign, Harold supported a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage and protection for employers who fire employees based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.

“Erika Harold’s disturbing opinion that even an abusive home is better than the nurturing family a same-sex couple can provide is an insult to all parents, but for me, as both a mom and a member of the LGBTQ community, she’s doubled down on the disgusting here,” said State Representative Kelly Cassidy. “The shortage of options for abused and neglected children is at a crisis point, exacerbated in other states by discrimination against gay foster and adoptive parents. We can’t afford to elect an attorney general whose commitment to at-risk kids’ safety is in question. I’m proud to stand with Kwame.”

“As an adult adoptee and someone who has fought for years to assure every child in care is placed in a loving home, I am gravely concerned about Erika Harold’s unconscionable position which threatens the progress we have made in building families through adoption,” said State Representative Sara Feigenholtz. “We need an attorney general dedicated beyond question to protecting children, and if Erika Harold continues to sit back while Trump tears families apart and refuses to stand up to harmful policies, she has no place in the AG’s office. I’m proud to support Kwame Raoul, who quarterbacked life-changing adoption legislation and whose profound ability to listen and lead is beyond reproach.”

“We fought for decades to make marriage equality the law in Illinois, and passed laws to protect LGBT people from discrimination in housing, employment and public accommodations. It’s important that our next attorney general enforces those laws and defends Illinois families against blatant discrimination, but if it were up to Erika Harold, these important protections could easily be rolled back,” Assistant House Majority Leader Greg Harris said. “I support Kwame Raoul, because he has always stood up for our rights.”

The video is currently running on digital platforms.

posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 9:22 am

Comments

Solid ad. Harold is completely unknown. In other words she’s a blank canvas. Kwame just painted some “crazy extremist” on her blank canvas. Solid B+

Comment by Chicago Cynic Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 10:01 am
The question was stupid.
The answer was stupid.
The ad is stupid.

Comment by Responsa Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 11:37 am
It’s well done. It’s fair game to hold a candidate accountable for her public positions, even if she has since abandoned them.

Comment by anon2 Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 11:51 am
Wow, I had no idea. The way the GOP is set up, it’s no suprise they would field one of their crazies. They have her, the Neo-Nazi, and Guy down in the metro east who painted himself in blackface. You have to ask yourself, is the GOP staking their claim in bigotry. The world is crazy and we have these crazies. Geez

Comment by anon Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 12:09 pm
Even if the question was silly, happened 19 years ago, doesn’t hold these views now, it’s an “A” because it will cause people to ask “what are her views” on the issues - which are probably too conservative for Illinois. Me, I’d ask for her views on immigration, which are probably also too far right.

Comment by DarkHorse Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 12:36 pm
I’d like to know if she still thinks the same way.

Comment by Cheryl44 Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 12:45 pm
Even if she changed her LGBT position, how does someone choose child abuse there?

Comment by Position Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 1:34 pm
I didn’t see Erika Harold at the Pride Parade. Was she there?

Comment by Mayor Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 5:49 pm
I would like to know what Raoul & Erika’s position is on the immigrant kids and their rights to be reunited with their parents? Illinois is housing some of those kids - do they have the paperwork on who their parents are and where they are located, etc.?

Comment by M Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 6:30 pm
This happened 18 years ago. Raoul was an unknown attorney in Chicago then and Feigenholtz was in her fifth year in the General Assembly (she’s been in the GA longer than Dick Durbin’s been a US Senator–wow.) Not a lot of context to this ad.

Comment by Ross Brown Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 9:19 pm
Ross-

You’re right, but it doesn’t need context. As Chicago Cynic said above, Harold is a relative unknown. Voters know nothing about her that would refute this attack ad.

Comment by FormerRepublican Tuesday, Jun 26, 18 @ 9:51 am