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:

BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

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BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

December is make or break for us. A full one-third of our annual fundraising comes in this month alone. A strong December means our newsroom is on the beat and reporting at full strength. A weak one means budget cuts and hard choices ahead.

The December 31 deadline is closing in fast. To reach our $400,000 goal, we need readers who’ve never given before to join the ranks of MoJo donors. And we need our steadfast supporters to give again today—any amount.

Managing an independent, nonprofit newsroom is staggeringly hard. There’s no cushion in our budget—no backup revenue, no corporate safety net. We can’t afford to fall short, and we can’t rely on corporations or deep-pocketed interests to fund the fierce, investigative journalism Mother Jones exists to do.

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