Governor Hogan and GOP State Chair Dirk Haire have been aggressively pushing a “Drive for Five” effort to flip five state Senate seats from Democrat to Republican in November. 

 Who is John Grasso? County Councilman John Grasso is running to be a state senator in District 32, which is one of the targets in Hogan’s “Drive for Five.”  Grasso has a sordid history of repeated hateful and offensive actions that have no place in our state and politics.

What has John Grasso been posting? Along with Islamophobic posts, Grasso made threats against The Capital Gazette over critical media coverage just months after the tragic shooting there.  He also shared a post calling President Obama “the bastard child of a bigamous marriage” and a post referring to Congresswoman Pelosi with a vulgar epithet.  His statements discriminate and disparage people and communities based on race, gender, income and religion.

How have Hogan and the MD GOP supported John Grasso? As early as the end of August, a voter “palm card” to District 32 residents featured a statement from Governor Hogan saying that he was “proud to endorse” Grasso and the rest of the GOP District 32 Team and that they were “independent voices” and “exactly the type of leaders we need in Annapolis.”  Grasso’s Facebook Profile picture was of a warm Hogan-Grasso embrace (see both below).  MD GOP State Chair Dirk Haire is quoted calling Grasso “a terrific candidate, a very strong candidate.” 

Well, John Grasso is NOT the type of leader that Marylanders need or want in Annapolis.  

 What’s happening now? On October 2, as reported by The Capital Gazette, after public complaints of “hate-filled, Islamophobic and xenophobic” actions by Grasso, a Hogan spokesman now says that Hogan has not endorsed Grasso.  On October 3, Grasso posted on his campaign page, “A side effect of my words being taken out of context is that I was informed that I do not have the support of Governor Hogan…I very much want Governor Hogan to win and he has my full support.  In addition, an earlier version of a palm card stated that I had Governor Hogan’s support.  At the time, I thought this to be accurate.”  What led Grasso to believe he had Hogan’s support?  Did Grasso make up the praising quotes from Gov. Hogan on the palm card and did anybody in Hogan’s campaign  approve or notice?  Moreover, this was not an isolated incident, so did the Hogan campaign not notice or see fit to comment on Grasso’s sordid history of offensive actions until now?  While Hogan through a spokesman may be acting out of political expedience and is late to the game, there’s no word yet about the state GOP’s endorsement of Grasso from MD GOP Chair Dirk Haire or other GOP leaders, including the rest of the District 32 GOP team.

What can I do? Sign this petition to call on Governor Hogan and MD GOP Chair Dirk Haire to publicly condemn and oppose Grasso.  Hogan and Haire must deliver an unequivocal message that the state GOP will NOT tolerate hate and bigotry among their ranks or anywhere in our state!

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