Pedophile can run for office in Virginia, thanks to McAuliffe decision restoring felons' rights
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Nathan Larson, left, an admitted pedophile, is legally able to run for Congress in Virginia this year because of a 2016 decision by then-Gov. Terry McAuliffe to restore voting rights to thousands of criminals. (Official photos)
An admitted pedophile and convicted felon who spent more than a year in prison for threatening to kill President George W. Bush is legally able to run for state offices in Virginia because of a 2016 decision by then-Gov. Terry McAuliffe to restore voting rights to thousands of felons.
Nathan Larson, 37, of Catlett is running as an independent candidate in Virginia’s 10th Congressional District. He has expressed pro-pedophilia and incest views, and, in an interview with HuffPo this week, called it “normal” for men to be attracted to underage women.
Larson was barred from running in future elections after pleading guilty to sending the Secret Service a 2008 letter threatening to kill Bush, who was president at the time.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}But, though a convicted felon, Larson is now able to run in Virginia because McAuliffe, the former Democratic governor, restored voting rights to 13,000 felons in 2016, including Larson's. McAuliffe left the governorship this year after being term-limited.
Larson ran in 2017 for Virginia’s House of Delegates -- something he would not have been able to do without McAuliffe restoring his voting rights.
Though a convicted felon, Nathan Larson is able to run again for office because McAuliffe individually restored voting rights to 13,000 felons in 2016. McAuliffe left the governorship this year after being term-limited. (from official site)
After this story was published, though, a spokeswoman for McAuliffe, Crystal Carson, said that when it comes to this year's U.S. House race, Larson is “constitutionally eligible anyway” because the U.S. Constitution doesn't prevent felons from serving in federal offices.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“McAuliffe restored his right to vote, but he could always run,” Carson said in an email to Fox News.
According to the Virginia Department of Elections, candidates must be “qualified to vote” in the race for the office they are seeking.
A spokeswoman for Virginia Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam did not immediately return a request for comment.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}As for Larson, he hasn't backed away from his extreme, even repugnant views.
Larson has written frequently on so-called “incels” -- people who have struggled with being “involuntary celibate.” HuffPo said Larson confirmed writing online posts – they've since been taken down -- titled “Advantages of Father-Daughter Incest” and “The Justifiability of an Incel’s Kidnapping a Girl and Keeping Her as His Rape-Slave for Sex and Babymaking.”
In its story, the news organization said Larson was open about his pedophilia, but claimed he has never committed any crimes. It also uncovered an online post in which Larson expressed a desire to have sex with his daughter, though he doubted it would happen because he doesn’t have custody. He told the outlet he has a 3-year-old daughter who lives with relatives.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}According to Larson’s campaign platform, he is for the legalization of child pornography and restoring “benevolent white supremacy” and “patriarchy.” He also refers to Adolf Hitler as a “white supremacist hero.”
HuffPo said Larson seemed unfazed during a phone interview.
“A lot of people are tired of political correctness and being constrained by it,” Larson said. “People prefer when there’s an outsider who doesn’t have anything to lose and is willing to say what’s on a lot of people’s minds.”