A New jersey mayor is clashing with a controversial Missouri Republican with a history of anti-gay statements after he threatened to fire her brother for donating to her campaign.
The fight has spilled over into social media, with the mayor publishing text messages chastising the candidate’s brother and her then responding with an angry video and threatening a lawsuit.
Valentina Gomez, a 25-year-old property investor, is running for secretary of state in Missouri and has made headlines with a series of viral videos espousing right-wing views.
The gun-toting MAGA candidate in May told voters to not be ‘weak and gay’ and has made videos slamming Juneteenth, Black Lives Matter (BLM), and plans to compensate the descendants of victims of slavery. She has also used anti-gay slurs to protest the opening ceremonies of the Paris Olympics.
It was revealed that Gomez’s brother, Jonathan Gomez Noriega, has spent three years working on the staff and LGBTQ+ task force for Democrat Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop and the last six years as the primary aide to the mayor.
Gomez announced in a video Monday that she had recordings of Fulop threatening her brother’s job following reports he’d donated $1,250 to her campaign and that she was planning legal action.
‘Fulop is making him choose between his family, or his job. Steven, you should’ve chosen your words more carefully, because you don’t sound like a Democratic mayor, you sound like a dictator,’ she said.
‘You cannot be governor, this is not the way to treat your employees, or any human being but I will let the people decide.’
She then played the audio clip over a photo of Fulop.
‘Jon, if you think that is boldness, I am gonna’ fire you. I’m gonna look in five minutes, if not clear where you stand, then you’re not with me, you’re with her and you can’t work with me. Period, okay? Like, that’s it, end of story. Five minutes.’
Fulop responded to Gomez’s video by posting a lengthy statement to X and attached four screenshots of his text messages telling Gomez Noriega his support of his sister’s campaign was unacceptable.
‘Valentina – first 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,’ he wrote.
‘Second, You can see how strongly I feel about the LGBTQ community and I’ll share the text messages we exchanged so ppl know ill fight for them when people are watching and the same when they can’t see what I’m doing.’
The text messages largely reflect Fulop’s views in the audio recording, showing Fulop trying to dictate what Gomez Noriega should say in his apology.
Gomez has responded multiple times to those condemning her brother with her brand of rhetoric.
After Frank E. Gilmore, a Democrat councilmember in the city, said that Gomez Noriega should be removed, Gomez called him a ‘felon and a drug dealer’ and said her brother could be better used elsewhere.
‘Yes please! Appoint him to more useful boards instead of that gay s***. He’s an American citizen and can do what he wants with his money. Gotta give credit to Steven Fulop who is the only Democrat mayor that has actually done right for the city he leads,’ she wrote.
Gilmore was jailed at 19 for drug offenses, serving six-and-a-half years in prison, before obtaining a college degree and opening a community center, then running for city council, according to Hudson County View.
Gomez Noriega – a former Olympic swimmer and graduate of Columbia after emigrating with his family at a young age – posted a statement of his own Monday afternoon.
‘Different beliefs shouldn’t divide us,’ he wrote. ‘This issue touches dinner tables across America. I choose respect, peace, and the chance to embrace my loved ones, putting family above politics and any appointed position.’
‘I do not and will never discriminate against ANY human being. I am an Olympic Swimmer, a Graduate of Columbia University School of International Public Affairs, and have been loyally serving the people of Jersey City for over six years.’
He then announced he was formally stepping down from the LGBTQ+ task force, but said he looks ‘forward to continue serving the people of Jersey City’.
‘I may not agree with everything my sister says, but I love her. It’s this kind of boldness—stepping up for my family and maintaining our relationship—that makes our country strong,’ he said.
‘Political differences should not destroy families.’
A petition calling for Gomez Noriega’s resignation from the task force had achieved over 300 signatures, while Congressman Rob Menendez – the son of convicted New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez – commended the calls for him to resign and Gomez’s attacks on Gilmore.
It remains unclear if Gomez Noriega will retain his job as an aide to the mayor, though Fulop’s statement suggests he will be removed from his position entirely.
Kimberly Wallace-Scalcione, a spokesperson for the city, told NJ.com they have ‘made it explicitly clear that the views expressed 1,000 miles away in Missouri are shameful and have no place here in Jersey City.’
DailyMail.com has reached out to a Wallace-Scalcione for further comment on Gomez Noriega’s job status.
In a statement, Valentina Gomez added: ‘Family over everything! It’s very hypocritical that there is a task force for just 1% of the population.’
She wondered why there were no similar task forces for veterans, police or firefighters or ‘families that have stayed together’.
The city website says the goal of the task force is to ‘provide equal opportunity to all of its diverse employees, residents, and businesses.’
Valentina Gomez – who also came here from Colombia and is a huge supporter of Donald Trump – has emerged in a divisive election season, in which politics around race, gender and sexual identities have become front-burner issues — and for some candidates, a vote-winner.
Gomez is running for Missouri secretary of state as a Republican. As the state is heavily red, it’s likely that the winner of the Republican primary will prevail in the general election
The incumbent, Republican Jay Ashcroft, is running for Missouri governor, leaving the seat open.
Gomez has attracted far more attention than her competitors simply for her controversial stances and provocative videos.
One showed her jogging through the mostly LGBTQ neighborhood of Soulard in St. Louis in May, wearing a bulletproof vest and telling voters to not be ‘weak and gay.’
In February she shared footage of herself setting two LGBTQ-themed books on fire, characterizing the texts as ‘grooming, indoctrinating and sexualizing’.
‘When I’m Secretary of State, I will BURN all books that are grooming, indoctrinating, and sexualizing our children. MAGA. America First,’ she wrote on X .
After Instagram removed the video, Gomez told HuffPost she was: ‘Just like President Trump,’ adding: ‘I am one of the most suppressed voices on Instagram.’
Gomez has previously said ‘don’t be gay,’ when referencing ‘countries that ban rifles, guns or even flamethrowers,’ as reported by radio station WCPT.
Her social media bio reads: ‘Jesus is King. MAGA. America First.’
She opposes vaccine mandates and the ‘transgender agenda.’
Gomez has also expressed admiration for Andrew Tate, who is accused of human trafficking in Romania.
She worked until recently in finance at Nestle Purina.
Gomez has garnered a reputation for wading into conservative culture war issues
She recently attacked Dylan Mulvaney, who spoke at a Missouri Jesuit college. She called Mulvaney ‘a dude’ with ‘a penis.’
Since the secretary of state serves as the chief elections official in Missouri, Gomez has floated plans to revamp the voting system.
She says the 2020 election was stolen from Trump, which may inform her plan to ‘remove electronic voting machines to successfully transition towards universal paper ballot hand counting,’ per her campaign website.
She also supports deploying the National Guard to monitor polling places in Missouri.
