Bethany Mandel, the controversial right-wing pundit, home-schooling advocate, and prolific social media poster, is running for county school board — as a Democrat.
Though the school board race in deep-blue Montgomery County, Maryland, is technically nonpartisan, Mandel’s campaign published a graphic on Tuesday listing her as a Democrat. The move quickly raised eyebrows online, and prompted a community note on X (formerly Twitter) stating, “Bethany Mandel has identified as a Republican numerous times on her personal Twitter account.”
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Those who know Mandel recognize her for writing molten-hot takes and far-right political commentary. The most infamous was a column, published in the wake of the violent white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, titled “We Need to Start Befriending Neo Nazis.” (Mandel is Jewish.) Her content can be cringey, like her column defending Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ wife: “If Casey DeSantis is a Karen, she’s our Karen.” She’s posted dehumanizing rhetoric, too. “Not nuking these fucking animals is the only restraint I expect and that’s only because the cloud would hurt Israelis,” she’s written about Palestinians.
This needs to not be legal.
As a condition of running for a nonpartisan office I think you should be forbidden to claim association with any political party.
Which party a school board member was a part of was incredibly impactful during the pandemic and directly influenced what actions were taken to protect the students. ‘non partisan’ is a myth in this day and age.
For lots of local offices, there can almost no information about the candidates…but I’ve found that if you take 5 mintes to search facebook, the extremists are pretty good about outing themselves…especially if you take the time to learn a few dog whistles.