Mark Clayton, the winner of Thursday's
Tennessee Democratic primary for Senate, has been disavowed by the
Tennessee Democratic Party.
Clayton received nearly twice as many
votes as any other candidate in a crowded seven-person Democratic
primary for U.S. Senate, earning him the right to face popular
Republican Senator Bob Corker in the fall.
Clayton has stated that he is a vice
president of Public Advocate of the United States, a group condemned
by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a “gay-bashing group.” On
its website, the group states that it offers “strong and vocal
opposition” to gay marriage and “the furtherance of so-called
'Gay Rights.'”
The Democratic Party said in a
statement it would not back Clayton's campaign.
“Many Democrats in Tennessee knew
nothing about any of the candidates in the race, so they voted for
the person at the top of the ticket. Unfortunately, none of the
other Democratic candidates were able to run the race needed to gain
statewide visibility or support.”
Mother
Jones reported that Clayton had a “penchant for fringe
conspiracy theories,” such as national ID cards, the “NAFTA
superhighway,” and accusing Google of censoring his campaign
website on behalf of the Chinese government.
Democratic Party spokesman Sean
Braisted recommended that “people write in a candidate.”