In 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, as well as 2021, “Fanatical Republican Extremist of the Day” profiled James Comer, who was a GOP candidate for the Governor of Kentucky in the 2015 elections who somehow lost to cockfighting advocate Matt Bevin, as just before the primary, another candidate in the GOP field, Hal Heiner, accused Comer of abusing his girlfriend in college. While at first, this just seemed like an unsubstantiated slander, Comer’s college paramour, Marilyn Thomas, and her mother came forward to confirm the accusations, and add that Comer had also gotten her pregnant, and pressured her into getting an abortion. Which, guess what? Comer also claims to be pro-life without exceptions for rape, incest, or the mother’s life at risk… so that was not going to fly well for him. Comer ended up losing to Bevin in the primary by… 83 votes. Comer, as we noted in our write-up, is also pro-death penalty, opposes same-sex marriage, only wants abstinence-only sex education taught in schools, and has “A” ratings on his stance on guns from the NRA.
We thought Comer would have to lay low for a few years, or that his political career could be in jeopardy. Lo and behold, he almost immediately bounced back in the thick of Kentucky politics, and did not just run in the 2016 GOP Primary for the right to replace retiring Rep. Ed Whitfield for his seat for Kentucky’s 1st Congressional District… he HANDILY won that primary, with 61% of the vote in a four-way race. His biggest challenge was from second-place finisher Mike Pape, who FRED covered a little ways back for his grotesque ads with Mexican stereotypes sneaking across the border. Once Comer got out of the primary, he coasted to victory over Democrat Sam Gaskins with 73% of the vote, which makes sense what with the Cook Partisan Voting Index having a +24 Republican lean measured for Kentucky’s 1st District.
James Comer was placed on the House Oversight Committee after making his way to Washington, D.C., but it doesn’t seem like he takes that responsibility too seriously, based on this May 2017 interview where he does his best to blow off the revelation of what was in former FBI Director James Comey’s memos, and chalks up most of the things Comey claims Donald Trump says that are highly inappropriate if not things that would qualify obstruction of justice in the Trump/Russia investigation as Trump “was just joking”. Because we’ve all heard that knee-slapper about Michael Flynn and how we should “let this thing go”. Perfect punchline, right?
It’s that sort of cluelessness that has Comer already facing crowds of angry constituents at his town halls, as he’s already been shouted down twice since taking office, particularly on the issue of healthcare. But it’s not just at town halls where James Comer has seen things get heated. He’s currently the target of a lawsuit after he began taunting and threatening the job of a legislative aide from the Kentucky state legislature who reported Jeff Hoover (who we’ll get around to giving a FRED profile to somewhere down the road) for sexual harassment, leading to his resignation. So, an old colleague’s improper behavior isn’t something Comer would like whistleblower protections to apply to, and he’d rather seek out retribution. Isn’t that cute?
James Comer coasted to re-election in 2020 with 75% of the vote. He thus returned to the capitol to try and stop any progress from taking place in our nation:
- October 17th, 2019: Comer is one of 60 Republicans who vote against HJ Res 77, which opposed Donald Trump’s disastrous decision to abandon Syrian Kurdish forces in Northeast Syria to the mercies of a Turkish invasion.
- December 3rd, 2019: Rep. Comer is one of 71 Republicans who votes against a resolution to disallow Russia from re-entering the G7 and makes it the G8 until it leaves Ukraine.
- December 18th, 2019: Comer ignores his Congressional duty to hold a president who has been proven to commit high crimes and misdemeanors accountable and votes against the first impeachment of Donald Trump.
- May 15th, 2020: Comer votes against the HEROES Act, to further support the healthcare industry and citizens affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
- January 13th, 2021: Rep. Comer votes against the second impeachment of Donald Trump, because the Republican Party no longer feels like they should be accountable for anything, including failed coups that result in the deaths of both their participants and police officers.
- February 4th, 2021: James Comer votes to keep Marjorie Taylor Greene’s committee assignments, because he wouldn’t want her to be accountable for all the bigoted remarks and conspiracy theories she’s spread online (probably because she’s a kindred spirit).
- February 25th, 2021: Comer votes against HR 5, the latest version of the Equality Act, that would provide workplace protections for LGBTQ Americans.
- March 3rd, 2021: Rep. Comer votes against HR 1, a bill created to prevent the corruption of money in politics, and protect voter access to the ballot box.
- March 3rd, 2021: James Comer votes against the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2021.
- March 10th, 2021: Comer votes against the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, because he feels people deserve to die in poverty during a pandemic.
- March 17th, 2021: Rep. Comer votes against the re-authorization of the Violence Against Women Act, likely because they feel the 2nd Amendment remaining absolute is more important than preventing people with a history of domestic abuse from owning a firearm (which statistics show, makes them more likely to use those firearms against women in their lives).
- May 19th, 2021: James Comer votes against HR 3233, the creation of a commission to investigate the Capitol Attack.
- May 20th, 2021: Comer is one of 63 Republicans who vote against the Covid-19 Hate Crimes Act.
- November 5th, 2021: James Comer votes against HR 3684, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
- March 31st, 2022: Comer votes against HR 6833, the Affordable Insulin Now Act, which would limit the cost that drug companies could list insulin at to $35 and make sure no diabetic was priced out of surviving their condition. James Comer would rather they be gouged by pharmaceutical giants and/or die.
- May 18th, 2022: James Comer is one of 192 Republicans who vote against HR 7790, to create supplemental funding for infant formula (while claiming to be pro- life).
- May 18th, 2022: Rep. Comer votes against HR 350, the Domestic Violence Prevention Act, because these days, a plank of the Republican Party is ostensibly domestic terror.
- May 19th, 2022: Comer votes against HR 7688, a bill which would help prevent gas companies from gouging customers on prices.
- July 15th, 2022: James Comer votes against House Amendment 262, which would require the FBI, Department of Homeland Security, and Secretary of Defense to publish a report on the infiltration of American law enforcment by Neo-Nazis and white supremacists, offer measures to be taken to remove them from their ranks, and prevent further infiltration by others.
- July 21st, 2022: Comer is one of 195 Republicans who vote against the Right to Contraception Act, which codified the right of Americans to have access to birth control.
James Comer seems to have settled into being a Congressman for the foreseeable future, as he passed on hopping into the 2019 Governor’s race in Kentucky, even though a rematch with Matt Bevin in the GOP Primary would have been far easier for him to win, given how terrible of a job Bevin did (and why he lost to Democrat Andy Beshear). Comer was promoted to be the ranking Republican member of the House Oversight Committee in 2020 (i.e., “do your best to make sure there isn’t any as long as Trump is in office”).
He currently seems content to spread the sorts of aggrieved white privilege that Fox News can’t get enough of, falsely claiming that “crime is on the rise because Democrats are defunding the police”, which isn’t a cause, or effect based in reality, or say, when he cheers on extremely toxic and intoxicated Fox News personality Maria Bartiromo for spreading lies about Hunter Biden that he shares on social media.
It bears watching if he tries to run for Governor of Kentucky in 2023 or not, but his 2022 opponent, Democrat Jimmy Ausbrooks will need nothing short of a miracle to upset Comer in a highly conservative district that Comer won re-election to two years ago by a mere fifty point margin.
One Year Ago, July 29th, 2021: James Comer (KY)… 2021 Update
Two Years Ago, July 29th, 2020: James Comer (KY)… 2020 Update
Three Years Ago, July 29th, 2019: James Comer (KY)… 2019 Update
Four Years Ago, July 29th, 2018: James Comer (KY)… 2018 Update
Five Years Ago, July 29th, 2017: James Comer (KY)… 2017 Update
Six Years Ago, July 29th, 2016: James Comer (KY)… 2016 Update
Seven Years Ago, July 29th, 2015: James Comer (KY)… Original Profile
Eight Years Ago, July 29th, 2014: Harley Brown (ID)