A Lakewood Republican on Thursday said he is dropping his brief candidacy for the state House after publicity about his arrest record and ties to white-supremacy movements made him a target for Democrats and members of his own party.
Nate Marshall’s decision to drop out of the race came five days after his nomination at the Jefferson County Republican assembly, and one day after The Denver Post publicized information about his background.
“I didn’t think things all the way through,” Marshall told The Post on Thursday afternoon.
The 42-year-old construction manager said he isn’t media-savvy, and he thought he would have time to explain his arrest record on his campaign website and also go through and clean up some of the things he had posted on the Internet.
He made derogatory comments about Muslims, gays and members of Occupy Denver.
On one video involving Denver police and Occupy Denver, he wrote that Denver police had “every right to shoot these scumbags.” On another video shot in Loveland, he wrote that the so-called 99 percent were nothing but “lowlife uneducated scum.”
“I wasn’t hating on anybody,” Marshall said Thursday
He said many of his postings stemmed from his frustration with current events. He referred to a court case where a Colorado judge determined that a Lakewood bakery unlawfully discriminated against a gay couple by refusing to sell them a wedding cake.
Marshall said he decided to run for the seat now held by Rep. Max Tyler, D-Lakewood, after learning at his precinct caucus on March 4 that his party didn’t have a candidate. He received the party’s nomination at the Jeffco GOP assembly, but that was before his record became public.
“Nate Marshall does not reflect the values of the Republican Party. We strongly oppose his continued candidacy and demand he end his campaign,” Bill Tucker, chairman of the Jeffco GOP, said Thursday in a news release.
“The values of the Republican Party — family, community, care and tolerance — are not compatible with Marshall’s views, and we condemn the hateful words and actions associated with him.”
The first calls for Marshall to step down were made on Facebook after The Denver Post on Wednesday pointed out Marshall’s arrest following a police investigation of a Craigslist rental scam. He paid restitution to the victim, and the charge was dropped.
The Post also provided a link between Marshall and white supremacy activity. A group called Rocky Mountain Antifascists, which tracks neo-Nazi and white supremacist activity, noted that Marshall had formed an online political organization called The Aryan Storm and was recruiting members.
LynnBartels: 303-954-5327, lbartels@denverpost.com or twitter.com/lynn_bartels
