9th Congressional District Candidate Believes Disease, Bad Weather Are Punishments From God

By aaroncynic in News on Jan 23, 2014 7:15PM

Illinois appears to have its very own version of Pat Robertson running in the Republican primary for the 9th district. In a profile yesterday by the Daily Herald, Susanne Atanus, 55, who has twice run and lost in the GOP primary for the district, said that gay rights and legalized abortion are to blame for bad weather and diseases like autism and dementia. Calling herself a conservative Republican who believes in God first, Atanus said:

“God is angry. We are provoking him with abortions and same-sex marriage and civil unions. Same-sex activity is going to increase AIDS. If it's in our military it will weaken our military. We need to respect God.”

The comments from Atanus were pretty much a freebee for rival candidate David Earl Williams III. Williams, a veteran of the U.S. Navy who voted Obama in 2008 but has since seemingly shifted towards leaning libertarian, said he was offended by Atanus’s remarks. “I've served with people who were gay during, 'don't ask, don't tell' and you aren't worrying about if someone is gay or not, you're worrying about if you're going to live the next day,” he said. He also told the Herald he was against abortion and gay marriage, but believed the government should stay away from both issues.

Williams however, isn’t without his own troubles. According to Evanston Now, a Washington, D.C. judge issued an order of protection against the candidate for allegedly stalking a woman from the DC area, impersonating her online and attempting to get her fired from her job.

Illinois Republican leaders were quick to distance themselves from Atanus. The Huffington Post reports Illinois Republican Chairman Jack Dorgan asked Atanus to withdraw from the race. Dorgan said her statements "have no place in the modern political debate, and she has no place on the ballot as a Republican."