Missouri candidate blasted for anti-LGBTQ videos loses primary

A Republican candidate in Missouri who has faced sharp criticism for anti-LGBTQ videos during the race for secretary of state lost her Tuesday night primary by a big margin. 

Republican Valentina Gomez had sparked controversy earlier this year over a video in which she lit LGBTQ-inclusive books on fire, pledging to “burn” such books if she won the office and touting former President Trump’s Make America Great Again platform.

In May, she drew harsh blowback from Democrats and LGBTQ rights groups over a video in which she advised voters not to be “weak and gay.” Another recent post on a gender controversy at the Olympics was flagged on social platform X as a potential violation of the platform’s “rules against Hateful Conduct.”

“To all LGBTQIA Missourians, your existence should not be used as a political football,” Missouri state House Minority Leader Crystal Quade (D), who won the Democratic primary for governor, said after the May post.

Gomez boasts nearly a quarter of a million followers on X but came in single-digits during the Tuesday night Republican primary.

She earned just 7.4 percent of the vote, according to the latest tallies from Decision Desk HQ, putting her in sixth place in the crowded field with 94 percent of ballots tallied.

Missouri state Sen. Denny Hoskins emerged the winner, scoring roughly a quarter of the vote.

Though Gomez is out of the race, Hoskins has also come under scrutiny for anti-LGBTQ moves, including voting last year for a bill in the state Senate aimed at banning gender-affirming care for trans youth.

Hoskins was a founding member of the Missouri state Senate’s hard-right Freedom Caucus, according to The Kansas City Star, and is vying to succeed Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft (R), who lost his primary bid for Missouri governor on Tuesday.

Hoskins will go up against Democratic state Rep. Barbara Phifer in the fall.