Fanatical Republican Extremist of the Day: Mike Azinger- 2023 Update

West Virginia State Senator Mike Azinger, trying to win the "creepiest official photo" contest.

On this date one year ago, “Fanatical Republican Extremist of the Day”, we had our first profile of West Virginia State Senator Mike Azinger, who ignored his mother when she told him his face would stick like that if he didn’t know it off, who has held office for District 3 of the West Virginia State Senate since 2016 after a two year stint in the West Virginia House of Delegates.

Mike Azinger popped up on our radar in January of 2021 like a lot of Republicans did… for being present during the attack on the Capitol by Trump supporters after backing Trump’s “Big Lie” for weeks, and then in the wake of the failed coup, trying to blame all the violence on “Antifa”. He decried any member of the Republican Party who tried distancing themselves from Trump’s coup attempt, but did his damnedest to blame the deaths of police officers on phantom “leftists”.

”The events that day are so awe-inspiring and patriotic and peaceful that it would almost bring you to tears. These Marxists and leftists are trying to make it look like it was something we should be put in jail for.”

Not only is he a big fan of sedition, he is also a dedicated bully towards the LGBTQ community, not just trying to ban drag queen story hours or medical transitition for children while screaming about “indoctrination”, not just saying that a transgender teacher has “a spiritual or mental problem”, but when in August of 2022, after hearing the tale of how a transgender man West Virginia survived being a victim of rape as a child, he sneered, and sent off an e-mail to misgender them and call them “Pathetic”.

Yeah, that’s a dedicated bigot, for sure.Then it should come as little surprise he co-sponsored a bill to stop “Critical Race Theory” from being taught in schools (even though it wasn’t being taught) co-sponsored a bill to try and prohibit a constitutional right to an abortion (which isn’t how the Constitution works, even hypothetically), and voted to repeal the requirement for a concealed carry license for firearms.

We are loathe to report Mike Azinger won re-election in 2022 after narrowly surviving the GOP Primary, then going on to coast to re-election against a Democrat with 68% of the vote. He has spent his latest term in office trying to legislate homophobic bigotry, sponsoring SB 252, a bill aimed at taking “obscene materials” out of public schools and libraries and buy “obscene” he has confirmed he means anything that mentions LGBTQ people or themes.

Click Here for Full FRED Archive

One Year Ago, December 4th, 2022: Mike Azinger (WV)… Original Profile
Two Years Ago, December 4th, 2021: Phil Arlinghaus (TN)
Three Years Ago, December 4th, 2020: Saundra McDowell (MO)
Four Years Ago, December 4th, 2019: Michael Clark (SD)
Five Years Ago, December 4th, 2018: Ed Henry (AL)… 2018 Update  
Six Years Ago, December 4th, 2017: Ed Henry (AL)… Original Profile
Seven Years Ago, December 4th, 2016: Greg Brannon (NC)… 2016 Update
Eight Years Ago, December 4th, 2015: Greg Brannon (NC)… 2015 Update
Nine Years Ago, December 4th, 2014: Greg Brannon (NC)… Original Profile