Big Dan Rodimer goes full cowboy ahead of Texan congress run

Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox

Get our free Inside Washington email

Please enter a valid email address

Please enter a valid email address

SIGN UP

I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy

Republican Congressional candidate Big Dan Rodimer is suffering online ridicule after completely changing his persona to run for office in Texas after losing a race in Nevada.

The soft-spoken family man speaking about running “on his record” and having “no criminal record” in his failed Nevada congressional campaign in 2020 is now running in Texas in 2021 as an ultra-masculine bull-riding cowboy who claims to know how to take on “the commies in DC” who are “ruining America”.

“I know how to handle Nancy Pelosi and stop her b*******,” Big Dan Rodimer, the Texas candidate says in a campaign video in a voice and accent that seemingly is part of an act if compared to the way he speaks in a 2020 Nevada campaign video.

A video showing the two Mr Rodimers was posted on Twitter and roundly panned.

Oliver Willis at The American Independent tweeted: “Guy runs in Nevada with a standard accent, loses. So now he's running in Texas, and all of a sudden it's HEY Y'ALL I'M BIG DAN WOO HAA.”

Read more:

Mr Rodimer lost the race for Nevada's third congressional district in November and has come out on the other side four months later as a candidate in a Texas special election after seemingly having shed his entire personality.

He lost the Nevada race in the Las Vegas suburbs to Democrat Susie Lee by three points. The Dallas-area seat he's now running for is more than 1,200 miles away, The American Independent reported.

In an ad from his run for office in Las Vegas, Mr Rodimer presents himself as a buttoned-up family man, sitting on a couch with his wife and five children, defending himself against accusations of assault.

The Associated Press reported that Mr Rodimer, a former wrestler, had been accused of assault three times between 2010 and 2013, according to Police records.

He was accused of "punching or throwing someone to the ground in disputes at nightclubs and restaurants," The Las Vegas Sun reported.

Mr Rodimer's return comes in the Texas sixth district which was left vacant after the passing of Republican Representative Ron Wright, who was diagnosed with Covid-19.

Mr Rodimer now appears to be presenting a different side of his persona, wearing a cowboy hat and riding a bull. As the bull throws Mr Rodimer off its back, a bystander says "We call that bull Nancy Pelosi. She's a beast”. Mr Rodimer goes on to bring up several culture war issues motivating social conservatives, bashing transgender rights and claiming that the border is not being protected.

"Hire me to represent you and I'll go to DC to kick some leftwing a**," Mr Rodimer adds towards the end of the video published Thursday, as he takes part in the Republican pastime of owning the libs, something Politico recently called "the GOP’s core belief".

Almost a dozen Republicans are running for the open seat, including Susan Wright, the former incumbent's widow. Former President Donald Trump won the presidential vote in the district in 2020 by three points, compared to twelve in 2016, The American Independent reported.

Election day is the first of May. All candidates from all parties run on the same ballot. If no one gets at least 50 per cent, as is likely, the top two candidates will face each other in a run-off on 24 May.

The Independent has reached out to the campaign of Dan Rodimer for comment.