Welcome to the 709th original “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” profile, where we’ll be talking about Nick Sauer, a former member of the Illinois House of Representatives who served one term in office after winning election in 2016 through the benefit of getting to run for the state legislature unopposed. hen you read Sauer’s biography, the entire thing reeks of entitlement and his being earmarked by senior Republicans for advancement. Whether it was working in Bush 43’s Department of Commerce, to him being elevated time and again in races for the Illinois Board of Education, then to the state legislature, and then his placement on both the State Toll Highway Authority, and a key position on a Illinois House of Representatives Committee aimed at curtailing sexual harassment at the state capitol.
That last one, is going to sting in a minute, in terms of hypocrisy. You see, former Illinois Speaker of the House Mike Madigan was accused of not doing enough to curtail sexual harassment at the state capitol, and Illinois Republicans looked like they wanted to make hay with that accusation. Because, to the GOP, sexual harassment is only a topic they want to discuss if they can weaponize it politically to their advantage. They shed not a tear for anyone targeted by members of their own party and Madigan, whether responsible or not for a toxic culture of harassment, was going to be blamed for it by Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner. Now former governor, which should tell you how well his plotting worked.) And, again, the GOP decided to put Nick Sauer in a profiled position by placing him on that committee, hoping the young legislator would make himself famous as an attack dog for their party who would rake Madigan over the coals.
That came to a screeching halt only weeks after his placement on the committee, when Nick Sauer himself was accused of posting nude photos of his ex-girlfriend online, and catfish other men that she was looking for sex, so that those men would send her harassing messages asking for sexual favors. Or, as prosecutors in Illinois refer to it, Nick Sauer committed “a felony charge of revenge porn”. And thus, #MeToo came again to Springfield.
Once the news broke, a college roommate of Sauer’s came forward, and claimed he was a “predator of the highest order” who had victimized “dozens” of other people, detailing an incident that took place between himself and Sauer where the young Republican attacked him, unprovoked, with an electric razor, taking a chunk of his hair from his scalp and prompting a scuffle. Once Sauer started to realize he was about to get his *** kicked, he said, “it doesn’t look that bad”.
Sauer waited a few days, then deleted the majority of his social media accounts, leaving only his Instagram up but on “private” and resigned in disgrace.
We’re not expecting him back in politics, ever. Oh, and a little epilogue to this story? The Illinois GOP appointed Helene Walsh, the wife of CSGOPOTD alumni and former Congressman Joe Walsh to take Sauer’s place for the last few weeks of his term, and hope she could win the seat in the fall and hang onto it. She lost the seat by a little less than 400 votes. A Blue Wave versus terrible candidates following a sex-scandal plagued outgoing legislator were enough to overcome the odds.
One Year Ago, December 12th, 2017: Dan Johnson (KY)
Two Years Ago, December 12th, 2016: Jim Hagedorn (MN)… 2016 Update
Three Years Ago, December 12th, 2015: Jim Hagedorn (MN)… 2015 Update
Four Years Ago, December 12th, 2014: Jim Hagedorn (MN)… Original Profile