WASHINGTON – The political ad showed Washington State’s Mark Miloscia donning a papal mitre and clutching rosary beads. Its caption portrayed the Mississippi native, a Catholic, as an agent for Catholic rule. “’Mississippi Mark’ has always worn his church on his sleeve,” the advertisement said. “Rather than represent the people of Federal Way, he has best represented the people of the Vatican.”
The ad appeared on the website of local Democratic activists in King County as late as October, according to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, which broke the story. Miloscia was a Democratic state representative for 14 years and after losing a bid for state auditor two years ago, in March he announced he was switching parties to run as a Republican for the state Senate. “Washington state Republicans don’t insist that everyone believe and vote exactly the same way to run for office,” Miloscia told the Seattle Times.
The Washington State Democratic Party said political ambition was the real reason for Miloscia’s party switch. “With his last-place finish in the race for State Auditor in 2012, Miloscia is upset that the voters of Washington State chose not to give him a promotion. He saw that he wasn’t advancing fast enough as a Democrat,” the party wrote in a statement.
Local Democratic activists got rid of the web ad. But its anti-Catholicism bolsters Miloscia’s argument that the state’s Democrats are intolerant toward traditional Catholics. A Seattle PI columnist, Joel Connelly, agreed. He said the ad “ranks as the nastiest single attack of Washington’s 2014 campaign. Whatever the intent of site authors, they’ve bolstered Miloscia’s argument that the Democratic Party no longer welcomes someone who is socially conservative.”
State lawmakers differ from their federal peers. They represent smaller constituencies; they make more impolitic statements (read The Huffington Post or Daily Caller for confirmation); and the outcome of their races depend less on big-money interests and political actors.
Yet the national Democratic Party, too, has few lawmakers who vote for traditional Catholic positions of support for labor unions, the unborn, and social welfare. For example, Democrats for Life of America listed seven of the 254 Democrats in the current Congress as members.
Aleteia caught up with Miloscia Thursday morning in his basement in Federal Way, Washington. He was moving boxes around after winning his state Senate race by 13 percentage points over Democrat Shari Song on Tuesday.
Miloscia, 56, is an atypical Republican lawmaker.
Although he is a Mississippi native, his family moved to New York City when he was six years old. He went to the Bronx High School of Science for one year and graduated from Francis Lewis High School in Queens. His father worked two jobs, as an insurance and shoe salesman; his mother stayed at home to rear five children.
After graduating at 17, he enrolled in the Air Force Academy and served in the Air Force for 14 years. As a state lawmaker in Washington State, he earned a voting record of 92 percent from a state labor union. He cited John and Robert F. Kennedy as well as the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. as his political heroes. He cast presidential votes for Al Gore in 2000, John Kerry in 2004, and Barack Obama in 2008.
He and his wife, Meschell, have three children.
In the interview, Miloscia said young, millennial-age Democrats are driving out traditional Democratic politicians both in the blue state of Washington State and nationally.
Were you surprised by the anti-Catholic ad?
The long and short answer is no. It’s always been subtle. My opponent is taking the position that I take my orders from the Catholic Church. If you read the blogs, people are pretty blatant. And their anti-Catholicism is flat out ugly.
What I liked about the Democratic Party is that Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. came from a faith perspective. I don’t know any more if a Catholic like RFK or even his brother John could be in the Democratic Party, because activists told me you must be shoving theocracy down our throats. You’re a bigot, a homophobe. You hate women.
Catholics in JFK’s day used to represent a large part of the party. But when I was a Democrat, I was told I had to evolve [and become a cultural liberal]. They evolved. Barack Obama evolved.
Forget the big tent. They say they don’t have a litmus test, but they do. Of course, I understand that parties bring in new people and take out people in their coalition. But if you’re not good on the social issues, it doesn’t matter, and I had a 92 percent voting record with labor … The millennials are mostly hard core left. They have no tolerance for people of faith. They’ve sort of drunk the Kool-Aid.
I’m a social justice, anti-death penalty, seamless garment, pro-life Catholic.
What type of Republican are you?
I’m not very sure. If you read ‘Faithful Citizenship,’ [a document of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops] it’s clear we don’t really fit into either side. I’m a fiscal conservative. I will raise taxes, but if it had better be for a good cause.
Are there any Republican politicians you wish to emulate?
I see the Republican Party in Washington State as more of a moderate party. We Catholics are being absorbed into the middle. I support social services and immigration reform. I have sort of a bond with people talking from a faith perspective. There’s no doubt that when Democrats move to the left, there’s a power vacuum in the center.
What legislation to promote the common good can you pass realistically?
All of the pro-life issues, they’re non-issues basically. We have to wait until the Supreme Court rules. To me, that’s just the way it is in a blue state like Washington. As both sides admit, we’re the most pro-abortion state in the country. There’s no way of passing pro-life legislation. But I’m working on bills to deal with declining wages, government competence.
Mark Stricherz covers Washington for Aleteia. He is author of Why the Democrats are Blue.
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