Brad Staats (age 43 [1] ) is the unsuccessful 2012 Republican candidate for Tennessee's 5th Congressional District. He ran on a "family matters" platform that stressed traditional values and Second Amendment rights. He drew national attention in Oct-2012 after posting a photo of his handgun to his Facebook page, alongside a message "welcoming" President Barack Obama to Tennessee.
He lost to Democratic incumbent Rep. Jim Cooper by a margin of about 85,000 votes, or more than 30 percent of the total vote. [2]
Staats was arrested early on the morning of 25-Nov-2012 on a domestic assault charge after police responded to a call from his wife claiming that he slapped her. [2] [3] He was booked into Davidson County Jail. He posted a $5,000 bond and was later released. His trial date was set for 7-Feb-2013. [2] He reached a plea bargain and pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct.
On 3-Mar-2013, he was arrested again in Panama City, Florida. According to the Bay County Sheriff's Office and Clerk of the Court, he was arrested for interfering with an emergency situation (traffic accident) and resisting arrest without violence. He was released on his own recognise and a trial scheduled 7-July-2013. On 4-June-2013, the case was dropped against him.
Brad Staats was born in Bay County, Florida, and currently resides in Nashville, Tennessee. [4] He received a B.A. degree in English literature from Oral Roberts University with a second degree in music. He has appeared on Broadway and in touring companies with "The Phantom of the Opera", "Evita", and "Smokey Joe’s Cafe". After leaving show business, he founded ConsulTel, a wholesale security distribution company located in Hermitage, Tennessee. His family attends Cornerstone Church in Madison, Tennessee. He opposes abortion and same-sex marriage. Staats and his wife, Bethany, have four children. [4]
Alcee Lamar Hastings was an American politician and judge. He served as a member of the United States House of Representatives for Florida's 23rd congressional district from 1993 to 2013 and Florida's 20th congressional district from 2013 until his death in 2021. The 20th district includes most of the majority-black precincts in and around Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach.
Byron Looper was a Democratic turned Republican politician in Tennessee and convicted murderer. In order to advance his political career, he legally changed his middle name from "Anthony" to "(Low Tax)". After being convicted for the October 1998 murder of his election opponent, incumbent Tennessee State Senator Tommy Burks, he was given a life sentence in prison. He died in Morgan County Correctional Complex on June 26, 2013.
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Channon Gail Christian, aged 21, and Hugh Christopher Newsom Jr., aged 23, were from Knoxville, Tennessee. They were kidnapped on the evening of January 6, 2007, when Christian's vehicle was carjacked. The couple was taken to a rental house. Both of them were raped, tortured, and murdered. Four black males and one black female were arrested, charged, and convicted in the case. In 2007, a grand jury indicted Letalvis Darnell Cobbins, Lemaricus Devall Davidson, George Geovonni Thomas, and Vanessa Lynn Coleman on counts of kidnapping, robbery, rape, and murder. Also in 2007, Eric DeWayne Boyd was indicted by a federal grand jury of being an accessory to a carjacking, resulting in serious bodily injury to another person, and misprision of a felony. In 2018, Boyd was indicted on state level charges of kidnapping, robbery, rape, and murder.
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Terry Jones is an American anti-Islamic right wing activist and the pastor of Dove World Outreach Center, a small nondenominational Christian church located, until July 2013, in Gainesville, Florida, United States. He is the President of a political group, Stand Up America Now. He first gained national and international attention in 2010 for his plan to burn Korans, the scripture of the Islamic religion, on the ninth anniversary of the September 11 attacks.
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Andria L. Bennett is an American politician. She is a Democratic member of the Delaware House of Representatives, representing District 32. She was elected in 2012 to replace her husband, Brad Bennett, who had decided not to seek reelection after a second arrest for drunk driving. Bennett was formerly an adjunct faculty member at Delaware Technical Community College.
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James Edward McLynas is an American police reform activist and candidate for sheriff of Pinellas County, Florida. A victim of police abuse in Pinellas, McLynas is a vocal critic of incumbent sheriff Bob Gualtieri and has worked to expose police corruption, namely among the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office under Gualtieri's tenure. McLynas ran against Gualtieri, a Republican, in 2016 as an Independent and earned over 100,000 votes despite limited campaigning and media coverage. McLynas sought the Democratic Party's nomination in 2020, but lost the primary to Eliseo Santana. McLynas has pledged to run again in 2024 and continues to be involved in activism.