At a candidate forum in Rochester, Minnesota this past Monday, a state representative running for re-election literally grabbed the shared microphone out of the hands of his female opponent, drawing audible gasps from the audience. State Rep Duane Quam (R-Of Course) was participating in a forum sponsored by the local chapter of the League of Women Voters with his opponent, Jamie Mahlberg.
Because they were sharing a hand-held microphone, the two had been trading the mic back and forth as they each answered questions. Rep. Quam wanted to offer a rebuttal to a comment by Ms. Mahlberg, but instead of waiting patiently for his turn with the mic, he nabbed it right out of her hands, eliciting quite the reaction from her and audience members. (Video available at this link courtesy of HuffPost)
When it came time to give it back, she was having none of it and he ended up flipping it back on the table in front of her. He later claimed it was because he was jittery about offering his take on the question. Uh huh...
Their state legislative seat, situated in and around Rochester, is considered has the potential to be a winnable seat by state DFL party leaders. Mahlberg is one of many strong women candidates running in those races. And this is what she is dealing with.
Ladies and gentleman, your Modern Republican Men at their finest.
UPDATE: Here is youtube video of the incident:
UPDATE II: As suggested by a couple of commenters, here is what made Rep. Quam soooo nervous (from the HuffPost article): However, as Mahlberg was answering a question about linking education funding to the Consumer Price Index, Quam raised a card indicating he would like a rebuttal. Instead of waiting for Mahlberg to pass him the mic, he seized it from her hands, causing her to recoil in surprise.
UPDATE III: Minnesota Public Radio late this morning noted how the video of the incident has gone viral. It also stated that the race is not being viewed as competitive by either party. While that does not square with a comment I made in the original post, I’ll also note that in 2014, Rep. Quam ran unopposed :/. That being said, the dynamics of this year are quite different from both 2016 and 2014, especially in areas like Rochester, which has been trending away from its solid R status for several cycles now.