Kesha Rogers

Lakesha D. Rogers (born December 9, 1976) is an American political activist in the Lyndon LaRouche Youth Movement, a former candidate in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate in Texas, and a two-time Democratic Party nominee for Texas's 22nd congressional district.[2] Rogers, an African American, is a follower of Lyndon LaRouche and his LaRouche movement. She called for the impeachment of U.S. President Barack Obama.

Kesha Rogers
Born	December 9, 1976[1] Houston, Texas, U.S.
Alma mater	Texas State University, San Marcos
Political party	Independent
Spouse(s)	Ian Overton (2011–present)

Personal life

According to her campaign biography, Kesha Rogers was born to a "lower middle class family", with her father being a minister and construction worker and her mother working for the Houston Independent School District. She graduated from Texas State University in 2001 with a degree in Political Science and Speech Communications.[3][4] She has criticized "the standard institutions of higher education" as "the biggest barrier towards students wanting a real classical education", and has expressed an interest in recruiting young people to the LaRouche Youth Movement.[4]

On November 5, 2011, Rogers married her campaign manager, Ian Overton.[5]

LaRouche movement

Rogers is an active supporter of the LaRouche Youth Movement,[3][6] and has been photographed holding a LaRouche campaign sign depicting President Obama with a Hitler mustache.[7] Rogers attacked President Obama for allegedly trying to dismantle NASA (a big employer in the Houston area), and supported his impeachment.[8] She has also criticized Obama for supporting health care reform proposals that she argued are fascist and will kill Americans. Rogers supports "a global Glass-Steagall", a reference to a banking reform law that was passed during the Great Depression and repealed in 1999.[7]

2006 Texas Democratic Party Chairman election

Rogers ran unsuccessfully for chair of the Texas Democratic Party in 2006.[2][9][10]

2010 United States House of Representatives election

On March 2, 2010, Rogers ran in the Democratic primary election for the US House Texas 22nd District against two opponents, Doug Blatt and Freddy John Wieder, Jr., winning the nomination with 7,467 of 14,281 votes.[6][11][12] The win was compared to that of surprise Senate candidate Alvin Greene.[11]

Following Rogers' primary victory, state and national Democratic leaders kept her at arm's length. A Texas Democratic Party spokesperson assured the Houston Press that "[Rogers's] campaign will not receive a single dollar from anyone on our staff," stating that Lyndon LaRouche followers are "not Democrats."[13][14] The Chairman of the Harris County Democratic Party said, "One of the things the LaRouchites are able to do is to engage young people. If she can turn out young people to vote for Democrats, all the better." He voiced the opinion that Rogers' policies would appear more mainstream were it not for her association with LaRouche, stating with Rogers that LaRouche's support for "investment in public works, separating commercial from investment banking and opposition to corporatism" were similar to the programs of Franklin D. Roosevelt.[15]

Subsequently, the Texas Democratic Party's state executive passed a resolution cutting ties with Rogers. Members were not required to support her, nor was she to be recognized at party meetings or mentioned on the party website's list of candidates. The resolution cited the "illegal activities, discriminatory proclamations and thuggish behavior" of the LaRouche movement.[10] Rogers called the decision "arrogant".[11]

Rogers' opponent in the general election was incumbent Pete Olson, who ran unopposed in the Republican primary. A spokesman for Olson's campaign said, "You never take an election for granted, but you, perhaps, wonder whether the Democrats in this district have profoundly changed their views on the president. She didn't hide her position."[15] Rogers lost to Olson, 29.8% to 67.5%.[16]

During her 2010 primary campaign for U.S. Representative, Rogers accused President Obama of "pissing on John F. Kennedy's legacy" by proposing to end NASA's Constellation program. She argues that London banking interests are trying to ruin America's economy.[15]

Her campaign slogan was "Help send me to Congress, and we can send our grandchildren to Mars!", a reference to the LaRouche movement's strong support of space travel.[2]

2012 United States House of Representatives election

Rogers continued to work on behalf of LaRouchePAC through 2011 and 2012. She once again won the congressional primary election on May 29, 2012, campaigning on a platform of impeaching Barack Obama "for gross violations of the Constitution in the service of Wall Street imperialism," restoring the Glass-Steagall Act, and reviving NASA. Rogers received 50.7% of the vote.[17][18]

After Rogers announced her candidacy for the 2012 election, on 9 February the Democratic leadership in TX-22 started a "Stop Kesha Rogers" campaign. Meetings were held on February 18, 25, and 27, and March 3. The stated reason was because Rogers still wished to have Obama impeached (both Rogers and the Democrats assumed that Obama would win the 2012 election, which assumption proved accurate).[19] The leadership and the local Democratic blogger Charles Kuffner endorsed instead KP George.[20] Doug Blatt was also on the ballot.[21]

Despite this, Rogers won the Democratic nomination by 103 votes. As in 2010, she was disavowed by state and national Democratic leaders. She was frequently seen on the campaign trail singing, "25th Amendment now--he is nuts! Obama is nuts!"[22] She was referring to LaRouche's call to have Obama removed from office on the grounds of insanity.[23] She lost to Olson again, taking 32% of the vote to Olson's 64%.

2014 United States Senate election

In December 2013, Rogers filed as a candidate in the Democratic primary race for U.S. Senate in Texas.[24] In the March 4, 2014 primary election, she came in second in a field of five candidates, advancing to the May 27 run-off election where she lost to multimillionaire dentist David Alameel.[25] Among the items on her campaign platform were opposition to fracking,[26] support for single-payer health care, restoration of the Glass-Steagall Act, and other familiar themes from her earlier campaigns.[27]

References

1. "Candidate - Kesha Rogers". Our Campaigns. Retrieved August 29, 2010.
2. Hilary Hylton, "Texas Dems Grapple With Their Own Alvin Greene", Time, June 20, 2010.
3. "Kesha Rogers (TX)". Retrieved March 3, 2010.
4. "Meet the Candidate". Archived from the original on March 7, 2010. Retrieved March 3, 2010.
5. "Kesha Rogers (D-TX-Senate)". Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved July 2, 2014.
6. Karn Dhingra (March 3, 2010). "District 22 Dems go for Rogers". Galveston County Daily News. Archived from the original on July 11, 2011. Retrieved June 4, 2011.
7. Jamie Mock (February 19, 2010). "District 22 Candidate Calls For Impeachment Of President Obama". Fort Bend Now. Archived from the original on July 25, 2011. Retrieved June 4, 2011.
8. Jennifer Harper (March 4, 2010). "Reach To Impeach?". Washington Times. Retrieved 4 June 2011.
9. Monica Perin (April 25, 2010). "District 22 candidate draws fire from Democratic party". Houston Chronicle. p. 12.
10. Elise Hu (March 16, 2010). "Texas Dems Back Away From LaRouche Candidate". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved June 4, 2011.
11. Anna M. Tinsley (June 24, 2010). "Disowned Democratic candidate will attend state convention". Star-Telegram. Retrieved 4 June 2011.
12. "Texas' U.S. House members win in primary election". Dallas Morning News. Associated Press. March 3, 2010. Retrieved June 4, 2011.
13. "Victory! For The Democrat Who Wants Obama Impeached". Retrieved March 3, 2010.
14. "SSP Daily Digest: 3/4 (Morning Edition)". Retrieved March 4, 2010.
15. Chris Moran (March 6, 2010). "This win seems to be out of right field". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved June 4, 2011.
16. "Election Night 2010". Roll Call. Retrieved February 24, 2011.
17. Hamilton, Reeve, Candidate Is the Issue in a Democratic Race, New York Times, March 25, 2012.
18. Primary Results, Texas Tribune
19. admin (Priscilla Harden, Karen Overton, Delores Mills, Johnny Johnson) (February 9, 2012). "STOP KESHA ROGERS!!". Fort Bend County Democratic Party. Archived from the original on July 30, 2012. Retrieved 20 March 2012.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
20. Charles Kuffner (March 20, 2012). "Who not to vote for 2012". OffTheKuff. Retrieved March 20, 2012.
21. Safiya Ravat (9 March 2012). "Democrats who filed for Texas primary". chron.com. Retrieved March 20, 2012.
22. "Anti-Obama Democrat on campaign trail for Congress". KHOU-TV. 2012-10-05. Archived from the original on October 8, 2012. Retrieved November 8, 2012.
23. LaRouche Calls For Application of 25th Amendment to Remove Obama Now. LaRouche PAC, 2010-10-07.
24. Swartsell, Nick, "Anti-Obama Democrat Kesha Rogers files for U.S. Senate", Dallas News, December 6, 2016
25. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-05-29. Retrieved 2014-05-29.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
26. Philpott, Ben, Alameel and Rogers, a Study in Contrasts, Make Their Case, Texas Tribune, May 8, 2014
27. Diaz, Kevin, U.S. Senate race puts Texas Democrats in a bind, Houston Chronicle, May 2, 2014