Christian nationalist Tim Barton was the featured speaker at a campaign event last week for Dave Nissley, whose primary challenge to the top Republican in the state House of Representatives is being backed by local far-right groups, Lancaster Online reported Monday.
“If we don’t start getting the right kind of people, who know there’s a God and know that we have God-given rights, and the role of government is to protect those rights, if we don't start replanting those seeds, then our kids and grandkids won't be able to enjoy the freedom that has been handed down to us over generations,” Barton said.
Nissley’s campaign reportedly paid Barton $10,000 to speak; Nissley said he did not know Barton would endorse him at the event. Rachel Wilson-Snyder, the county Moms for Liberty chair, also attended, according to Lancaster Online.
Nissley’s campaign website says he was inspired to run for public office after attending a 2022 event where right-wing radio host Eric Metaxas “challenged us to personally evaluate how we could give to others with what God has given us as individuals and as Americans.” In 2020, Metaxas emceed a pro-Trump “Jericho March” rally at which Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes threatened bloody civil war if Trump did not stay in power; Metaxas has become increasingly extreme over the years, saying that the mother of transgender activist Jazz Jennings would have been “burned as a witch” in “a civilized world,” denouncing Biden as “a puppet of the devil,” and declaring that the only difference between Biden and Hitler was that “Hitler was elected; Biden had to steal the election.”
More from Nissley’s campaign site:
Dave believes that God's Word and the founding documents of our national and state governments protect the freedom of churches and families from interference by the state. The spheres of Church, State, and family interact with and influence each other in a just society, however, they have separate and distinct roles and functions. Dave’s recent decision to enter PA politics has been greatly influenced by the unapologetic mingling of church, state, and family throughout the COVID pandemic. He feels convicted as a citizen to take personal responsibility and asks fellow Pennsylvanians to do the same.
No Democrat is running in the deep red district in southern Lancaster County, so the April 23 primary will determine who represents the district. Incumbent Bryan Cutler has a conservative voting record, has endorsed Donald Trump, and is being backed by the county Republican Party and the NRA. But Nissley calls him a RINO (Republican in name only) and slams Cutler for supporting a 2019 law expanding access to mail-in ballots. Some right-wing activists and local officials were infuriated at Cutler’s role in wrangling over the House Speakership at a time when Democrats temporarily lost their majority.
After the 2020 election, Cutler was lobbied by Trump’s team to help them overturn Biden’s win, but told them the legislature did not have the power to decertify the results. He did, however, sign a letter telling members of Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation to object to the counting of Pennsylvania’s electoral votes.
More recently, Cutler was among the right-wing officials who had criticized a Drag Queen Story Hour sponsored by Lancaster Pride that was scheduled to be held at the Lancaster County public library on Saturday. Local religious-right groups mobilized a “Jericho Walk” in opposition to the event, which was cancelled in response to a suspicious package and bomb threats.
