Adam Kokesh at John McCain’s 2008 Republican Party acceptance speech in St. Paul. (Photo by Cheryl Biren-Wright/Flickr)
Ron Paul and his army of supporters want Republican Adam Kokesh to be the next congressman from northern New Mexico.
Kokesh has been active for years in Paul’s Campaign for Liberty movement. Support from Paul and his group have already helped the Iraq war veteran turned antiwar activist raise about $55,000 — most of it from out-of-state donors — for his bid to unseat freshman U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M. next year.
But does that level of energy and attention from outside New Mexico mean a libertarian-leaning Republican has a shot at unseating an incumbent Hispanic Democrat in New Mexico’s Third Congressional District, a Democratic stronghold?
Not likely, says Gabriel Sanchez, a political science professor at the University of New Mexico. While he said the out-of-state money will help Kokesh raise more money in New Mexico and will force Luján to “work a little harder” to keep the seat, he believes Luján will do just that.
“It’s going to make that race much more interesting,” Sanchez said of Kokesh’s candidacy. “You’re probably going to get a lot more national attention on the race than you normally would, but I don’t really think the outcome is in jeopardy.”
Sanchez cited the district’s heavily Hispanic population and the Luján family name — his father is speaker of the state House of Representatives — in explaining his analysis. And he said Luján hasn’t made many missteps during his first few months in Congress, so most debates would be over policy differences.
Of course, a Luján/Kokesh matchup will only take place if Kokesh wins the GOP primary, but there are currently no other declared Republican candidates.
‘The people of New Mexico deserve better’
Sentiment like that expressed by Sanchez is not stopping Kokesh from trying to unseat Luján.
“The people of New Mexico deserve better representation than someone who will just toe the party line,” Kokesh said in a weekend article published in the Albuquerque Journal. “It’s not that he’s too liberal, it’s just a question of his principles. The (Democratic) leadership is in charge, not the people.”
Attempts to set up an interview with Kokesh for this article were unsuccessful, but his campaign manager, Tina Richards, wrote in an e-mail that the campaign will reach out to “every area and constituency in the district” in an attempt to win voters away from Luján.
Luján spokesman Mark Nicastre wouldn’t comment about Kokesh, but he wrote in an e-mail that Luján has been working “to pass legislation that cuts taxes for 95 percent of American workers and puts us on a path to economic recovery, provides health care for millions of children, protects valuable and treasured lands in New Mexico and moves us toward a clean-energy economy.”
He said Luján has held more than 120 public events, met with thousands of constituents and traveled thousands of miles in his first few months in office.
Kokesh only recently declared that he’s running as a Republican. He’s been a Republican since he was old enough to register to vote, but has been critical of party leadership. In announcing his party affiliation last week, Kokesh said the GOP platform — limited government and lower taxes — is most in line with his views.
“Local Republicans have received my candidacy in a way that has demonstrated a new spirit of inclusiveness,” Kokesh said Monday in a news release. “We are ready to make this the party of big tent, smaller government.”
A ‘revolutionary patriot’
Kokesh has a long history of working with Paul. After being discharged from the Marines in 2006, he moved to Washington, D.C., to pursue a master’s degree in political management at George Washington University.
There, the self-described “revolutionary patriot” began speaking out against the war and getting involved in other activist projects that included organizing to help veterans dealing with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder — which he says he also overcame after returning from Iraq — and opposing the actions of the Federal Reserve System. At some point before Kokesh announced his congressional exploratory committee in early May, a Draft Kokesh movement sprung up on the Internet.
In mid-May, Paul sent an e-mail to his supporters urging them to help Kokesh.
“Adam Kokesh has been a tremendous supporter – of both me AND you!” Paul wrote in the e-mail. “As a leader of Iraqi Veterans Against the War, Adam has spent years traveling the country to spread our message of peace, a strong national defense and limited government. Adam has tremendous credibility because of his service in the United States Marine Corps and I have deep respect for his commitment to principle.”
Kokesh spoke at Paul’s Rally for the Republic in 2008, saying, “While it is our responsibility now to resist tyranny civilly, while we still can, there may come a time when we will say to the powers that be, be it with your blood or ours, we have come to water the tree of liberty.”
Some controversial moments
As a protester, Kokesh has often found himself at the center of controversy. At George Washington University, he and seven other students put up posters in 2007 with the headline “Hate Muslims? So Do We!!!” The flyers were labeled as being from a conservative student group that was holding an upcoming “Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week.” Kokesh and the other students didn’t belong to the group and said the flyers were intended to be satirical and aimed at “exposing (the group’s) Islamophobic racism.”
Kokesh found himself in hot water again in 2007 when he and other war protesters wore parts of their combat uniforms during an antiwar protest. After being warned of possible disciplinary action for wearing uniforms to a political demonstration, Kokesh replied by telling the Marine Corps in an e-mail to “go f*** yourself.”
His wearing of the uniform during the protest and his e-mail led to a failed attempt to change Kokesh’s discharge from honorable to dishonorable. His status was downgraded to one level below honorable — a general discharge under honorable conditions.
Later in 2007, Kokesh and two others were arrested for trespassing during a protest outside Ft. Benning in Georgia. The charges were later dropped.
Last, Kokesh found his way into John McCain’s acceptance speech of the GOP nomination for president in 2008. He was carrying a sign that read “McCain Votes Against Vets” on one side and “You can’t win an occupation” on the other. After interrupting McCain’s speech by yelling, “Ask him why he votes against vets!” Kokesh was removed from the building.
Asked after the event how he got into McCain’s speech, Kokesh said he has “a lot of friends in the Ron Paul crowd,” and said one of Paul’s alternate delegates to the Republican National Convention gave him a pass.
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