A Holocaust denier is currently the only candidate on the ballot in the GOP primary for Illinois’s 3rd Congressional District, according to multiple reports.
Arthur Jones, who according to The Washington Post has called the Holocaust an “international extortion racket” and a “lie,” faces no Republican opponents in the race for the district representing parts of Chicago and its suburbs. The news about Jones was first reported by The Chicago-Sun Times.
The party’s primary will be held on March 20. Rep. Daniel Lipinski (D) currently holds the seat.
Jones’s website includes a section called “Holocaust?” in which he says there is no proof that the Holocaust took place in Europe, and says survivors’ accounts of the genocide are propaganda, the Post reported.
{mosads}The candidate reportedly also includes a section on his website dubbed “Flags of Conflict,” in which he praises the Confederate flag, saying it represents “a symbol of White pride and White resistance.”
Jones has launched bids for the district primary seven times since the 1990s and most recently in 2016, according to The Chicago-Sun Times.
The state’s Republican party legally removed him from the primary ballot in 2016, according to the report.
Jones also told the Sun-Times that he’s a former leader of the American Nazi Party.
The chances of Jones winning the seat are low considering the district’s Democratic leanings, the Sun-Times reported.
Despite Jones appearing to be poised to claim the GOP nomination, the Illinois Republican Party said they will not support him.
“The Illinois Republican Party and our country have no place for Nazis like Arthur Jones. We strongly oppose his racist views and his candidacy for any public office, including the 3rd Congressional District,” Illinois Republican Party chairman Tim Schneider said in a statement to the Sun-Times.
Jones does not appear to want the support of other prominent Republicans in Illinois, such as the state’s Gov. Bruce Rauner (R).
“I would not lower myself to ask Bruce Rauner to campaign for me or vote for me,” Jones told the Sun-Times.