A political hopeful who made national headlines this year with viral anti-LGBTQ campaign videos lost her bid to become Missouri’s Republican candidate for secretary of state.
Valentina Gomez, a self-described “America First-Maga” Republican, came in sixth in Tuesday’s eight-person primary, with 7.4% of the vote. Missouri state Sen. Denny Hoskins won with 24.4% and will face Missouri state Rep. Barbara Phifer, a Democrat, and Carl Herman Freese, a Libertarian, in November.
When asked Wednesday about the results, Gomez said she “made history in the name of Jesus Christ.”
“I was a nobody and God transformed me into one of the most feared, respected, and loved women in American Politics. I put the fear of God in pedophiles, groomers, and corrupt politicians. I never sold out, spoke the truth, and did the right thing for the American people,” she wrote in an email, using language that has become popular among the anti-LGBTQ movement.
Gomez first made national headlines in February when she set LGBTQ-inclusive books on fire with a flamethrower, pledging to ban such books if she were elected Missouri’s secretary of state.
In the video, Gomez said, “these books come from a Missouri public library; when I’m in office they will burn.” The torched books included “Queer: The Ultimate LGBTQ Guide for Teens,” which includes advice for queer teens navigating coming out and homophobia.
Valentina Gomez, a Republican candidate for Missouri Secretary of State, can be seen using a flamethrower to burn two LGBTQ-inclusive books in a video shared on X.Valentina Gomez campaign via X
Then, in May, she addressed voters in a video posted on X, saying, in part, “In America, you can be anything you want, so don’t be weak and gay.”
When asked whether she thinks these videos may have affected the outcome of her primary, Gomez said, “I stand by my words, and every one of my videos as they will endure the test of time.” She then doubled down on her inflammatory anti-LGBTQ rhetoric.
“Children should be learning Mathematics, Science, and History, NOT learning how to chop off their body parts, and being turned gay,” she wrote. “Darwinism will take care of these lgbtq people as they have castrated themselves, and cannot reproduce.”
Gomez’s inflammatory campaign has also affected the political career of her brother, Jonathan Gomez, who made multiple donations to his sister’s campaign, according to publicly available information. After the donations became public, Jonathan Gomez was fired as an aide to Mayor Steven Fulop of Jersey City, New Jersey; he was also a member of the mayor’s LGBTQ+ Task Force.
In response to a video message on X from Valentina Gomez — where she threatened to sue Fulop for firing her brother and said the mayor sounds “like a dictator” — Fulop wrote, “your brother WAS an ‘at-will’ employee for the city — as of tomorrow he no longer works there bc he doesn’t reflect the values of the city.”
Prior to the social media spat between his sister and Fulop, Jonathan Gomez shared a message on X saying that he loves his sister but does not agree with everything she says and added that he does “not support any hateful remarks directed toward the LGBTQ+ community or any individual.”
When asked for a comment, Fulop’s office directed NBC News to a Facebook video where Fulop, during a Q&A with reporters, says Jonathan Gomez’s termination paperwork is underway.
Jonathan Gomez did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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