With the U.S. Senate primary just a few weeks away the inevitable research dumps are well underway, and the Joe O’Dea campaign appears to have uncovered a rather bizarre position Hanks took last year in the legislature.
O’Dea sent out a press release Thursday accusing Hanks of voting against Senate Bill 21-017, which made it a crime for high school teachers to engage in a sexual relationship with a student.
In addition to the release Jefferson County State Rep. Colin Larson appeared in a new ad released by the O’Dea campaign leveling the allegation against Hanks.
In fairness we thought this had to be an exaggeration when we first read this, but it turns out it’s completely true.
Hanks was literally the lone Republican “no” vote on the first version of the bill in the House, and he voted against an amended version of the bill a few weeks later.
Prior to the law change last year there was a loophole that would have made some of these “relationships” with 18 year-old students permissible.
“Hanks’ voting record is full of head scratchers that are so outrageous they are hard to believe, like the time he was the only ‘no’ vote against a bill that would close a loophole in the law that allowed teachers who seduced an 18 year old student to evade criminal prosecution,” Rep. Colin Larson said in the O’Dea press release.
The third and final version of the bill passed ultimately passed the House with Hanks voting aye, but his first two votes against it are completely befuddling.
Seriously. What kind of person would think it’s okay for school teachers to be hitting on students?
Democrats would have a field day with this in the General Election. It would explain why Democrats are spending over $1 million weekly to support this Hanks’ campaign.
Conservative primary voters ought to carefully weigh what Democrats will do to Hanks with this information should he win the nomination.