Back in 2014, Religious Right activist Gordon Klingenschmitt won a seat in the Colorado House of Representatives despite this long history of saying truly outrageous things. Unsurprisingly, Klingenschmitt’s brief term in office was repeatedly marked by controversy. At one point, he was even stripped of a committee assignment after saying that a brutal attack on a pregnant woman in Colorado was the result of “the curse of God upon America” for allowing legal abortion.
Klingenschmitt, though, never quite seemed to learn his lesson and announced last year that he would be running for a seat in the state Senate in 2016 while continuing to voice his radical views on his daily “Pray In Jesus Name” program.
Last night, voters went to the polls in the state’s primary and Klingenschmitt lost badly to his Republican rival by a margin of 62 to 38 percent.
Klingenschmitt, who believes that the most godly candidate will always win “unless the people are evil,” predictably blamed the voters for thwarting the will of God that he be elected.
Instead of saying that the election results reflected the will of God, as religious candidates often do when they lose, Klingenschmitt said that his loss just shows that “God’s will is not always done in this world”:
East of downtown at The Airplane Restaurant, Klingenschmitt’s speech took on a religious tone.
“I work hard to establish God’s kingdom, not my own, and, as you know, God’s will is not always done in this world,” Klingenschmitt told dozens of supporters beneath model airliners hanging from the ceiling.
Retta Blodgett, who volunteered for Klingenschmitt’s campaign, was disheartened by the results.
“I’m disappointed because the kind of competition his opponent ran was a dirty campaign,” she said. “The fact that he (Klingenschmitt) could go into the government and take a stance and not worry about what people thought – that’s what conservatives need now to get our country back.”
Klingenschmitt fielded handshakes and pats on the back from throngs of supporters encouraging him to keep faith.
“I thank God for the opportunity to run a clean race on my side, even if that was not reciprocated,” he said in an interview. “I’m disappointed that people can lie, steal and cheat and violate their cadet honor oath and still win elections. I kept my cadet honor oath, and I ran with integrity, and I hold my head high.”
