SALT LAKE CITY – The hotly contested race in the court-ordered Congressional District 1 enclave in Salt Lake County has given the Democratic Party a rare opportunity to eat their own young.
State Sen. Nate Blouin (D-SLC) is on the current menu, after reporters resurrected a series of decades-old offensive posts on internet forums making light of women’s issues, sexual assault and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Considered a progressive candidate, Blouin is running for the District 1 seat in Congress against former congressman Ben McAdams and four other Democrats. Until his internet posts were revealed, polling indicated that Blouin was in second place in that contest.
Now, the state’s Democratic leaders are condemning Blouin’s comments, calling them “beyond unacceptable.”
That blanket condemnation was included in an open letter posted April 15 on Facebook signed by Senate Minority leaders Luz Escamilla, Senate Minority Whip Karen Kwan, Senate Minority Assistant Whip Jen Plumb, Senate Minority Caucus Manager Kathleen Riebe, Senator Stephanie Pitcher, House Minority Leader Angela Romero, House Minority Whip Jen Daily-Provost and House Minority Caucus Manager Doug Owens.
“There are no excuses for so-called jokes that target people’s identify or beliefs,” the Democratic letter reads, “or that make light of or appear to endorse sexual assault.
“These statements are offensive and personally hurtful to us and to the people we represent.”
The offensive posts by Blouin were written between 2009 and 2015 on multiple Internet platforms. In those comments, he accused the leaders of the LDS Church of bigotry and involvement in the illegal drug trade. He also used slurs to refer to mental challenged persons and women.
Blouin has acknowledged writing those posts in a public statement, adding that he was “… horrified to see my use of such language toward women and about a faith that my family, friends and millions of Utahns practice.”
“There’s no excuse for those posts,” the candidate admitted. “They’re vulgar, stupid and reflect a version of me in my early twenties that I’m ashamed of and have thankfully evolved past.”
Now 36, Blouin relocated to Utah from New Hampshire in 2009. He was elected to the Utah Senate in 2022, defeating an incumbent Democrat who was facing allegations of inappropriate behavior toward a female legislative intern.
While serving in the Utah Legislature, Bounin has become a favorite of the progressive wing of the Democratic National Committee. He was recently endorsed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and members of the House Progressive Caucus.
Running in a new congressional district with a sizable proportion of members of the LDS Church and significant numbers of women, local political observers note that Blouin’s comments represent a serious liability for his continued candidacy.
Democratic rival candidate Michael Farrell is on-record as demanding that Blouin should drop out of the District 1 race and other Democrats – including rival candidates Salt Lake City Council member Eva Lopez Chavez, Liban Mohammed and Luis Villarreal – are also piling on.
“Mr. Blouin is now apologizing for his past inappropriate and irresponsible comments as mistakes made due to youthful ignorance,” according to Wayne Holland, a former chair of the Utah Democratic Party, adding his voice to a rising tide of opposition to Blouin in an April 16 Internet post.
“However, he has a propensity to utilize discord and contempt as fuel to energize his base of supporters, without considering the potential consequences of his actions on Utah Democrats who genuinely aspire to represent Utahns and Utah in a manner that prioritizes the state’s interests.”
For now, the embattled Democratic candidate is standing by his “sincere apology” to anyone who his words might have hurt.