Illinois attorney general candidate says GOP opponent used N-word, asked if she was a ‘lesbo’
A Republican candidate for the Illinois Legislature is being criticized by his own party for allegedly using the n-word and asking black candidate for state attorney general Erika Harold if she was a “lesbo.”
Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner and the Republican floor leader, Peter Breen are asking for the candidate Burt Minor to drop out of the race for state representative.
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“He’s not fit to be a Republican nominee for office, especially not the General Assembly,” Breen said. “His conduct was outrageous.”
The conversation in question happened last fall between Minor and fellow Republican candidate Erika Harold. Harold is the party-backed candidate as well as a Harvard Law graduate and former Miss America. She was talking to Minor in his role as a Winfield Township chairman.
“[Minor] asked Ms. Harold personal questions about her marital status, and even her sexual orientation, going so far as to inquire whether she was a ‘lesbo,’” Breen wrote in a letter. “The chairman also used the full ‘n-word’ repeatedly in front of Ms. Harold and her assistant, asking whether she found its usage offensive.”
Breen says Minor admitted to using the slur and “tried to explain it away, saying that she wanted him to ask the question so she could get it on the record, which is obviously absurd.”
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Thank you, @chicagotribune, for endorsing my campaign! "She has the drive, approachability and eloquence not only to set policy for this office but to explain its mission and exhort the people of Illinois to join it." #twill #ILAG https://t.co/emKwFoHQUT
— Erika Harold (@ErikaHarold) February 23, 2018
“I think that when you are a black woman running for office, you do face comments that are objectionable and it’s very important that we change that within our culture,” Erika Harold said Thursday, adding that she shared the conversation with others at the time. “I never spoke with the governor, but I did speak with a few people within the party and understood there were people who were telling him that he should not be a candidate for this office.”
Minor is still on the ballot and the election is only a month away.
This is not the first time Harold has been called names by members of the GOP. In 2013 when she challenged Republican U.S. Rep.Rodney Davis for Congress, a Republican county chairman called her a “street walker” who was a “little queen.” That official resigned.
“I certainly face my share of objectionable comments on the campaign trail,” Erika Harold said, before adding that she tries to face these types of comments with dignity. “I think black women are underrepresented. I want to win this race and to be in a position to make change. I know there are a lot of women of color who need to see their perspectives and in the leaders who serve.”
Minor allegedly asked Erika Harold, “Are you a lesbo?” and she replied, “No, and that’s offensive.” Her campaign also confirmed he used the n-word repeatedly and she told him that too was offensive.
“Erika found it offensive and said it was offensive at the time,” her spokesman, Jason Heffley, stated.
