U.S. House of Representatives candidate Thomas Bowman has suspended his campaign after realizing he's been a "pawn" for Democrats, ABC News reported. Bowman was running as an independent to represent Minnesota's 2nd Congressional District in a contentious race.
The Patriots Run Project had enticed Bowman and several other conservative candidates into running as independents in key states. Many agreed to this election scheme, thinking they were helping former President Donald Trump.
However, Bowman realized that he was splitting the votes to allow the Democrats to prevail. Bowman has since decided to endorse GOP candidate Joe Teirab in his bid to unseat Democratic Rep. Angie Craig.
"I certainly spent a lot of time and effort influencing the race as a pawn in this scheme here," Bowman lamented. The 71-year-old retiree was one of many candidates who were taken in by this scheme.
Bowman didn't know what he was getting into when he decided to run as an independent candidate. The self-proclaimed constitutionalist started to suspect something was wrong after discovering that donor Elizabeth Steinglass had been donating to his opponent.
In fact, Steinback and her husband, David, had given the maximum allowable donations to Craig's campaign. The pair gave millions of dollars to other Democratic candidates, which led Bowman to question everything.
Teirab lauded Bowman for his courage. "Thomas is a true patriot for his willingness to boldly call out the dirty tricks that Angie Craig's allies pulled in an attempt to interfere in the election," the Republican candidate said in a statement.
Meanwhile, it's become clear that other right-leaning candidates may have been similarly recruited to unwittingly help Democrats. Bowman is the second candidate to drop out after learning who was truly behind the Patriots Run Project.
In Iowa, independent candidate Joe Wiederien withdrew from his House of Representatives race after learning he had also been duped by the shady organization. The state Division of Criminal Investigation has opened a probe into possible election fraud.
An Associated Press investigation found that the Patriots Run Project is backed by Democratic donors and consulting firms. The group recruited unsuspecting pro-Trump patriots through Facebook ads.
The Patriots Run Project lured these would-be candidates in with targeted ad language that appealed to would-be candidates. One ad proclaims, "We need American Patriots like YOU to stand for freedom with President Trump and take back control from the globalist elites by running for office. "
Despite the underhanded methods, pinpointing whether an actual crime was committed is difficult. There may be cause in Iowa as it's illegal to deprive citizens of "a fair and impartially conducted election process."
It is difficult to determine who exactly was the mastermind behind all of it. Weirden claims that he was recruited by an operative named "Johnny," who drove an electric vehicle and was cagey about being photographed.
This scheme preyed on unsuspecting Americans who were trying to serve their country. While it's true that the candidates should have done their due diligence, it's unconscionable for parties to manipulate people and elections this way.
