A local Republican committee member in Pennsylvania added a Facebook post depicting gay sex between two stick figures. The post targeted state Rep. Mike Fleck, an openly gay legislator facing re-election next week.
Tom Ritchey of the Huntingdon County Republican Committee posted the image Wednesday. According to the Centre Daily Times, the image depicted two male stick figures having sex and was styled using symbols from President Barack Obama’s 2012 campaign."
“Reminds me of our District 81 campaign and our Democrat running like a mad man,” Ritchey wrote in the post, which he deleted within hours.
Fleck, a Republican, came out as gay in 2012, shortly after his election to a fourth term in the Pennsylvania House. Facing withering attacks from social conservatives, Fleck lost the Republican primary this year but ultimately secured the Democratic nomination via write-in votes, Talking Points Memo notes.
While Fleck's Republican opponent, Richard Irvin, claims Fleck's sexual orientation isn't relevant to the campaign, he told the Centre Daily Times that many voters thought Fleck had been "unhonest" about it.
“You have a third that just very well may have been upset that they felt deceived ... that he was unhonest [sic] ... to begin with ... when he announced that he came out right after the election," Irvin said.
One local Republican told the paper that the race has proven the nastiest he's seen in the district.
Shares