Woman Unseats GOP Lawmaker Who Made Sexist Joke About Women’s March

John Carman was also condemned for sporting a New Jersey-shaped Confederate flag patch.

Amy Sussman/ZUMA

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On Tuesday, life came at John Carman fast.

Nearly 10 months after the New Jersey Republican legislator shared a meme asking if the historic Women’s March would be “over in time” for its participants to “cook dinner,” a woman and first-time political candidate who expressed anger over the sexist remarks has ousted Carman from office.

Democrat Ashley Bennett will now take Carman’s seat on the Atlantic County Board of Freeholders, a nine-member governing body that oversees politics in the South Jersey county. She was one of thousands of women around the country to dive into politics after Trump’s victory last year

“I was angry about [the Facebook meme], because elected officials shouldn’t be on social media mocking and belittling people who are expressing their concerns about their community and the nation,” Bennett said in October.

Last month, Carman drew fresh outrage for sporting a Confederate flag patch in the shape of New Jersey on his denim vest. He denied the racist implications of the patch, calling it the “South Jersey Rebel Patch.”

Here’s Carman’s Facebook post reacting to Tuesday’s loss:

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And the essential ingredient that makes all this possible? Readers like you.

It’s reader support that enables Mother Jones to devote the time and resources to report the facts that are too difficult, expensive, or inconvenient for other news outlets to uncover. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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