Jason Rapert

Stanley Jason Rapert
Member of the Arkansas Senate
from the 35th district
Assumed office
2013
Preceded by Bill Pritchard
Member of the Arkansas Senate
from the 18th district
In office
2011–2013
Preceded by Bob Johnson
Succeeded by Missy Irvin
Personal details
Born 1972 (age 43–44)
Place of birth missing
Reared near Maynard, Arkansas
Nationality American
Political party Republican
Spouse(s) Laurie Ellen Tyler Rapert (married 1990)
Children Two daughters
Residence Bigelow, Perry County
Arkansas, USA
Alma mater University of Central Arkansas
Profession Financial advisor
Religion Baptist
Website jasonrapertforsenate.com

Stanley Jason Rapert (born 1972) is an American politician from the state of Arkansas. A Republican, Rapert has served since 2011 in the Arkansas State Senate.

Early life

Rapert was raised in far northeastern Arkansas near the rural community of Supply on a small family farm. He attended school in Maynard in Randolph County and was active in basketball and academics.

In 1990, Rapert married Laurie Ellen Tyler from Pocahontas, the county seat of Randolph County. The couple moved to Conway, where they both attended the University of Central Arkansas, where he majored in Political Science and Sociology. He worked for United Parcel Service while attending college.[1]

Political career

Rapert was elected to the Arkansas State Senate, representing the 18th district, in 2010. He became the first Republican elected to the Senate from District 18 since the end of the American Civil War. As a result of decennial redistricting, Rapert ran for reelection in the 35th district in 2012, when he defeated Democrat Linda Tyler.[2] In the general election held on November 4, 2014, Rapert won a four-year term in the state Senate by defeating Democrat Joel Pearson, 13,483 votes (57 percent) to 10,267 (43 percent).[3]

Rapert is a member of the conservative American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), the Gideons International, and Rotary International.[4]

Position on reproductive law

Rapert authored a bill to ban all abortions in Arkansas after twelve weeks of pregnancy.[5] Then-Governor Mike Beebe (D) vetoed the bill as unconstitutional, but "the Republican-led Legislature overrode his veto."[6] In 2013, a federal judge stopped the law from being implemented, saying it was likely unconstitutional.[7] In January 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court denied the State's petition for a writ of certiorari to review the case.[8] The State of Arkansas was ordered to pay over $97,000 in attorneys' fees and costs to the prevailing plaintiffs before the Supreme Court decision was finalized.[9]

Position on use of U.S. military power

In February 2015, Rapert stated that the United States should use nuclear weapons in response to the threat posed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.[10][11] The post sparked a "lively debate...rang[ing] from agreement to ridicule" on social media:[12] Wonkette replied sarcastically to this stance,[13] as did Daily Kos,[14] and Esquire.[10]

Position on minorities

At a 2011 Tea Party rally, Rapert said, "we're not going to allow minorities to run roughshod over what you people believe in".[15][16] Rapert later claimed that his remarks about minorities were taken out of context.[17] The "minority" comments Rapert made in 2011 referenced both Barack Obama and a ballot initiative (Arkansas Proposed Initiative Act No. 1 (2008)) stricken as unconstitutional that prohibited unmarried cohabitating couples from adopting.[18][19] The Arkansas act had been criticized for prohibiting gay couples from adopting.[19]

On June 30, 2015, the Jason Rapert for Arkansas Senate Facebook page announced, in response to a post suggesting that the rights of minorities aren't subject to the whims of majorities, that "we the majority grant you rights by choice."[20] Later on that same day, the Jason Rapert for Arkansas Senate Facebook page accused Max Brantley and the Arkansas Times as a whole, of reporting that Rapert does not "recognize God has endowed us with natural rights that are given by God that no man can take away."[20]

Position on LGBT issues

While running for the Arkansas General Assembly, Rapert stated: "Traditional marriage in our society has always been between one man and one woman. I support an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that protects that right now and forevermore."[21] As a member of the Arkansas Legislative Council, a powerful committee in the Arkansas General Assembly, Rapert proposed a non-binding resolution to "urge the Arkansas Supreme Court to overturn a circuit judge’s ruling striking down Arkansas’ same-sex marriage ban."[22] Rapert initially proposed impeaching the judge who issued the ruling, but later stated he wanted to establish a system of judicial recall.[23]

On June 7, 2015, Rapert took to Facebook to "urge everyone to contact the Conway City Council and Mayor Tab Townsell and tell them that you oppose them for allowing activists to march through the streets of Conway on a Sunday to purposely mock Christian values and accuse Christians of being bigots", in protest of the Conway Gay Pride Parade that was scheduled to take place later that same day, which he deemed an anti-Christian activity.[24] According to The Chicago Sun-Times, responses to the Facebook post were "largely mocking".[25]

Following the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges that legalized gay marriage, Rapert stated that the Court's ruling was "unconstitutional."[26] Rapert encouraged public officials "to refuse to comply with an unjust ruling that violates religious freedom and states rights."[26]

Gun tweet controversy

In early September 2015, after having been approached by a local constituent at a store, Rapert posted a tweet that read, "Not smart to come up and harass somebody in a parking lot who's carrying a handgun. Better be glad you decided to walk away #armed&ready", which became the center of a controversy on social media.[27][28] Rapert said that the tweet was not referring to the incident with that constituent.[27]

Personal life

Rapert and his wife have two daughters. He plays the fiddle, which he learned to play by ear when he was ten years old.[1]

Rapert is the founder and president of Holy Ghost Ministries, and he makes annual missionary visits to Ghana.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "A personal look at Sen. Rapert - News - The Sun-Times - Heber Springs, AR - Heber Springs, AR". The Sun-Times. June 29, 2012. Retrieved October 22, 2013.
  2. ↑ "Republican Rapert wins heated Arkansas Senate race - FOX16.com Little Rock, AR". Fox16.com. November 7, 2012. Archived from the original on October 23, 2013. Retrieved October 22, 2013.
  3. ↑ "Arkansas 2014 general election results". thv11.com. Retrieved December 23, 2014.
  4. ↑ "Biography of the Honorable Jason Rapert, Arkansas State Senator" (PDF). arkleg.state.ar.us. Retrieved December 6, 2013.
  5. ↑ Eckholm, Eric (March 11, 2013). "Arkansas's Abortion Ban and One Man's Strong Will". New York Times. Retrieved January 24, 2016.
  6. ↑ Lyon, John (January 19, 2016). "Supreme Court Declines To Rule On Arkansas Abortion Law". Times Record.
  7. ↑ Eckholm, Erik (May 17, 2013). "Abortion Law in Arkansas Is Blocked by U.S. Judge". The New York Times.
  8. ↑ "Home / News / Supreme Court rejects Arkansas bid to revive abortion law". Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. January 19, 2016. Retrieved January 24, 2016.
  9. ↑ Brantley, Max (January 19, 2016). "U.S. Supreme Court refuses review of court ruling overturning Arkansas's 12-week abortion limit". Arkansas Times.
  10. 1 2 Charles P. Pierce (February 17, 2015), "Jason Rapert Wants To Nuke ISIS", Esquire, Here's Some Stupid For Lunch
  11. ↑ "If Jason Rapert didn't exist, we'd have to invent him". Arkansas Times. February 16, 2015. Retrieved February 19, 2015.
  12. ↑ State Senator calls for using nukes on ISIS, Little Rock, Arkansas: KTHV News, February 15, 2015
  13. ↑ Doktor Zoom (February 17, 2015), "Arkansas State Senator: Liberals Love ISIS So Much They Don't Even Want Nuclear War", Wonkette, Can't see how anyone could object to a few nuclear strikes in the Middle East — it's all just sand and camels anyway...
  14. ↑ Hunter (February 17, 2015), "Arkansas State Sen. Jason Rapert: America should nuke ISIS", Daily Kos, ...after persons pointed out that State Sen. Jason Rapert was quite possibly a raging idiot, he was then of course obligated to defend his plan...
  15. ↑ Norm Ornstein (August 2014), "When Extremism Goes Mainstream", The Atlantic
  16. ↑ Samantha Lachman, "GOP State Legislator Asks Why America Can't Be More Like Saudi Arabia", The Huffington Post
  17. ↑ "Sen. Jason Rapert releases statement on 'Heartbeat Bill', 'minorities' comment". February 5, 2013. Retrieved 24 January 2016.
  18. ↑ "Sen. Jason Rapert releases statement on 'Heartbeat Bill', 'minorities' comment". February 5, 2013. Retrieved January 24, 2016.
  19. 1 2 Pratt, Jordan. "Arkansas Supreme Court Strikes Down Ban on Adoption by Unmarried Cohabitating Couples". The Federalist Society. Retrieved January 24, 2016.
  20. 1 2 Max Brantley (June 30, 2015), "The line is open; with today's video and also: Child abuse and more crazy Rapert", Arkansas Times
  21. ↑ Jason Rapert for State Senate 18 – Issues at the Wayback Machine (archived January 15, 2011)
  22. ↑ Lyon, John (20 June 2014). "Legislators adopt resolution opposing judge’s ruling on gay marriage". Arkansas News.
  23. ↑ Lyon, John (22 June 2014). "Unhappy with ruling on gay marriage, some want ability to recall judges". Arkansas News Bureau.
  24. ↑ Jason Rapert for Arkansas Senate (June 6, 2015). "ANTI-CHRISTIAN ACTIVISTS WILL MARCH THROUGH THE STREETS OF CONWAY TOMORROW AND THE CONWAY CITY COUNCIL ENABLES THEM TO DO SO ON A SUNDAY, THE LORD'S DAY" – via Facebook.
  25. ↑ Chad Merda (June 8, 2015), "Arkansas lawmaker: Gay pride parades on Sundays 'mock Christians'", Chicago Sun-Times
  26. 1 2 "Cleburne County clerk will resign over same-sex marriage licenses". Arkansas Democrate-Gazette. June 29, 2015. Retrieved January 24, 2016.
  27. 1 2 Jordan Bontke for KATV. September 10, 2015 Senator Rapert explains controversial gun tweet
  28. ↑ Jonathan Rozelle for KARK. September 7, 2015. State Senator Comes Under Fire After Tweet

External links

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