As progressive leaders like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) settle into their roles, 2019 is a new day in American politics. But while the hoped-for Blue Wave brought about a host of historic firsts (not to mention a check against President Donald Trump), it’s worth remembering that a number of very conservative leaders have also taken office this year.
The Daily Dot looked through the brand-new elected officials on both the state and national levels to see which leaders were bringing their ultraconservative bona fides into office.
They’re ranked, from politicians who hold concerning ideas about women’s rights, LGBTQ rights, race, immigration, climate change, drug policy, and gun rights, to leaders who’ve openly adopted pro-Second Amendment and anti-choice positions—basically mainstream conservative ideals at this point.
It’s important to remember that state legislators are the ones passing laws that affect your state, so they hold significant power in your everyday life. And while bigoted politicians like Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) won their elections as well, he’s received significant news coverage and won’t be found on this list.
Hard-core conservative leaders
Steve Watkins, Kansas’ 2nd Congressional district
On his campaign website, Watkins says he signed the national Right to Life pledge, touts the need to “secure our borders” to stop illegal immigration, and spouts fear-mongering rhetoric about “violent transnational gangs.”
He’s also a big fan of the Second Amendment.
Josh Hawley, Senator from Missouri
“Josh has been a dedicated advocate for religious liberty, both as Attorney General and for his entire professional career. Before he became Attorney General, Josh fought Obamacare at the Supreme Court—and won—as one of the lead attorneys in the landmark Hobby Lobby case. Josh was also a lead attorney in the Hosanna-Tabor case at the Supreme Court, protecting the rights of churches,” his campaign website boasts.
Hawley is anti-choice and thinks Hollywood and the sexual revolution are to blame for human trafficking.
Regarding family separation at the border, he’s in favor of imprisoning families together.
“I think that is it imperative that families be kept together, but I think it’s also imperative that our law is enforced,” Hawley said. “And you know what else, Congress ought to do something about this, Congress ought to provide more funding to build more centers for families and children, Congress ought to give us more immigration judges so that we can speed this process, they ought to change the procedures to make sure that adjudications can happen more quickly and folks don’t need to be held up for this long, so they oughta do something about it.”
Dan Meuser, Pennsylvania’s 9th Congressional district
Meuser is Pro-2A, pro-life, wants to end DACA, supports the travel ban, and wants to defund sanctuary cities.
Michael Guest, Mississippi’s 3rd Congressional district
Pro-life, pro-2A, explicitly pro-Israel, and anti-immigration.
Brad Little, Governor of Idaho
Believes in decentralizing education system, is anti-gay marriage, and pro-life.
John Joyce, Pennsylvania’s 13th Congressional district
Pro-2A, pro-life, aligns with Trump on border security.
Steve Marshall, Alabama Attorney General
Fought for travel ban, wants to end sanctuary cities, pro-life, pro-2A.
William Timmons, South Carolina’s 4th Congressional district
Pro-2A, pro-life, supports building the wall and ending sanctuary cities.
Kevin Hern, Oklahoma’s 1st Congressional district
Pro-2A, pro-life, believes marriage should be between one man and one woman. Hern has said that Obama administration’s laws caused “American families [to] face a sluggish job market, ceaseless national security threats, and uncertainty regarding the American way of life.”
Brian Kemp, Georgia governor
Tried consistently to suppress votes of people of color throughout his campaign; pointed a gun at a teenager in a campaign ad, wants to stop sanctuary cities, thinks a school deciding not to say the Pledge of Allegiance is “anti-American.”
John Bizon, Michigan State Senate District 19
Pro-life, pro-gun doctor who supports immigration reform to “Keep terrorists and anti-American radicals from living in our country, no matter where they are from.”
Kevin Cramer, U.S. Senator from North Dakota
Wants to build a border wall and defund sanctuary cities, as a pro-lifer, he attempted to ban late-term abortion in U.S. House of Representatives, pro-2A.
Ron DeSantis, Florida Governor
DeSantis was plagued by associations with racists like David Horowitz. He also campaigned on a Trump platform, featuring his children in campaign ads to “build the wall.” He has also pledged to sign stringent anti-abortion measures and opposed licenses for guns. He also wants to ban sanctuary cities in Florida.
Significant conservative platform
Ed McBroom, Michigan State Senate 38th district
Pro-life, 93 percent rating from the NRA. Also voted to allow adoption agencies to discriminate on the basis of religion and to prohibit the state from taking action against those agencies for that discrimination, and voted for a bill making it illegal to coerce a woman into having an abortion.
Matt Hall, Michigan state house 63rd district
Endorsed by Michigan Right to Life, NRA and wants to make English Michigan’s official language.
Jeff Howe, Minnesota state senate 13th district
Pro-life, anti-immigration and against sanctuary cities
Cindy O’Laughlin, Missouri state senate 18th district
“O’Laughlin is a born-again Christian who believes that cake bakers and other should not be required to participate in gay weddings and other activities that do not fit their world-view.”
Also pro-life and pro-2A.
Tony Leutkemeyer, Missouri state senate 34th district
Pro-life and pro-2A, anti-sanctuary city.
Sheila Solon, Missouri state house 9th district
Pro-life, pro-2A, also promises to “stand up for the First Amendment rights of our churches and other institutions to freely exercise their religious beliefs against government infringement.”
Hardy Billington, Missouri state house 152nd district
Pro-life and pro-2A, has also said that being gay takes years off peoples’ lives and should not be discussed in schools.
Dirk Deaton, Missouri state house 159th district
Pro-life and pro-2A, strong concerns about religious liberty.
David Dunn, Montana state house 9th district
Pro-life, pro-2A. Also shared NRA TV and Project Veritas posts, questions climate change.
Rodney Garcia, Montana state house 52nd district
Repeatedly misgendered and deadnamed his opponent in an interview, posts anti-sanctuary city and anti-immigrant information on Facebook.
Joe Read, Montana state house 93rd district
Suggested a bill in his first bout as a state legislator to declare global warming natural and beneficial.
Bob Evnen, Nebraska Secretary of State
Evnen is “pro-life and pro-family,” pro-2A, and pushes the idea that “some” people want non-citizens to vote.
“As has been demonstrated across the country, once voting corruption occurs it is almost impossible to eradicate. The time to address this problem is before it occurs. As Secretary of State, I will work to assure that our elections remain fair and secure.”
Mike Moser, Nebraska state legislature 22nd district
Moser opposes adding gender/sexual identity into anti-discrimination laws, is against giving funding to organizations that perform abortions, wants to prohibit abortions except if it risks the life of the mother, and supports voter ID laws.
Myron Dorn, Nebraska state legislature 30th district
Pro-2A, pro-life and pro “traditional family values.”
David Murman, Nebraska state legislature 38th district
Murman opposes adding gender/sexual identity into anti-discrimination laws, is against giving funding to organizations that perform abortions, wants to prohibit abortions except if it risks the life of the mother, and supports voter ID laws.
Ira Hansen, Nevada state senate 14th district
Very pro-2A, anti-”illegal” immigration.
“Illegal means ILLEGAL. If you broke the law to get here, you should be sent back. President Eisenhower did exactly that in the 1950’s. It is a terrible slap in the face to the immigrants who played by the rules to grant ‘amnesty’ to cheaters. Businesses who knowingly hire illegals should be heavily fined.”
Ralph Boehm, New Hampshire state house Hillsboro 20 district
Wants to ban abortion after 20 weeks, supports repeal of gay marriage, opposes increased funding for heroin treatment programs.
Michael Trento, New Hampshire state house Hillsboro 7 district
Believes marriage should be between one man and one woman, wants a constitutional amendment that says life starts at conception.
Charles Melvin, New Hampshire state house Rockingham 15 district
Wants to limit abortion rights, opposes further restrictions on gun ownership, in favor of strict residency requirements for voting.
Dan Davis, New Hampshire state house Rockingham 16 district
Wants to seriously limit abortion rights (bans after 16 weeks), opposes further restrictions on gun ownership, does not support New Hampshire’s efforts to combat climate change.
Kevin Pratt, New Hampshire state house Rockingham 3 district
Wants to limit abortion rights, does not want stricter gun control, opposes New Hampshire’s efforts to combat climate change.
Terry Roy, New Hampshire state house Rockingham 32 district
Wants to limit abortion rights, opposes stricter gun control, supports strict voting residence laws.
Deborah L. Hobson, New Hampshire state house Rockingham 35 district
Wants to limit abortion rights, opposes stricter gun control, supports strict voting residence laws.
Tom Dolan, New Hampshire state house Rockingham 5 district
Wants to limit abortion rights, opposes stricter gun control, supports strict voting residence laws.
John Potucek, New Hampshire state house Rockingham 6 district
Wants to limit abortion rights, opposes stricter gun control, supports strict voting residence laws.
Mona Perreault, New Hampshire state house Stafford 24 district
Wants to limit abortion rights, opposes stricter gun control, supports strict voting residence laws.
Walter Stapleton, New Hampshire state house Sullivan 5 district
Wants to ban abortion—”I support a complete ban on abortion except in case of risk to the life of the mother.” Opposes stricter gun control, and supports strict voting residence laws.
Jerry Carter, North Carolina state house 65th district
Pro-2A, believes marriage is between a man and a woman, supports voter ID laws, as well as opposes illegal immigration and amnesty.
Jim Olsen, Oklahoma state house 2nd district
Believes in “protection of innocent and unborn life, support for traditional marriage, defending the Second Amendment,” and “fight[ing] against sanctuary cities.”
Gary Mize, Oklahoma state house 31st district
Pro-life, pro-2A, very concerned about illegal immigration
Jay Steagall, Oklahoma state house 43rd district
Pro-life, pro-2A, believes marriage should be between a man and a woman.
Toni Hasenbeck, Oklahoma state house 65th district
Pro-life, pro-2a, believes in “traditional marriage.”
Kristi Noem, South Dakota Governor
Pro-life, believes in “traditional marriage,” between one man and one woman.
Lynne DiSanto, South Dakota state senate 35th district
Jokes about killing protestors got her in trouble as a state representative.
Fred Deutsch, South Dakota state house 4th district
Proposed a bill when he was a state rep in 2016 to prevent trans people from using the bathroom of their preferred gender.
Dan Crenshaw, U.S. Representative from Texas’ 2nd district
Was a member of a right-wing Facebook group that shared conspiracy theories and racist memes.
Marsha Blackburn, U.S. Senator from Tennessee
Blackburn’s first bill proposed as a senator was to cut off federal funding for abortion. She’s also very pro-2A and supports anti-LGBTQ measures, including Trump’s transgender ban.
This list will be updated.