Republican with History of Vulgar, Anti-Gay Attacks Online Runs for Missouri Senate

A single word describes what the electorate of Missouri’s 19th Senate District can expect from this year’s campaign.

Demon.

Former state Rep. Chuck Basye, a Rocheport Republican who insults his conflicting parties via email and social media, filed his candidacy Tuesday in Missouri’s Middle District. He filed his request at the request of Senate Majority Leader Cindy O’Laughlin, who does not need to cede to Democrats a seat held for 16 years through the Republican Party.

He’s running against former state Rep. Stephen Webber, a Democrat from Colombia and a common target of Basye’s obscene attacks.

Case in point: Last year, Basye told a woman on Facebook that he “liked Stephen Webber,” before falsely claiming that Webber was gay and was only mad at Basye for defeating Webber’s “boyfriend” in a state legislature years earlier.

That’s why, Basye wrote to the woman, Webber wouldn’t allow him to perform oral sex on her.

Webber has shared screenshots of Basye’s attacks on social media to prove that he is unworthy of holding public office.

“Chuck Basye continues to (wrongly) obsess over my sexual orientation, while sexually harassing a female cartel,” Webber wrote last year after Basye lost the school board election. “I’ve never noticed a local candidate lose like that. “

Webber said that, as a politician and public figure, he expects a lot of abuse. But Basye’s vitriol toward personal citizens is appalling, he said, and should be rebuked by Republicans.

“The things he says are despicable,” Webber said. For some people, it’s sexual harassment. It’s bullying. It’s humiliating. It’s disgusting. It’s vulgar. I don’t know any politician in the country who has said so many disgusting things. “things like he did.

The language used through Basye has become increasingly appropriate in some political circles because of the influence of conservative radio stations and former President Donald Trump, said Terry Smith, a political science professor at Columbia College.

“Not necessarily the seven words that can’t be said on the radio, but just coarse, vulgar language,” Smith said. “And then, of course, Trump has gone to another point and I think a president of the United States with vulgar language, where it’s reported, is kind of giving strength and impression to other people who, all of a sudden, say if he can do it, so I can, of course.

Basye’s posts are evidence of a more serious problem, Webber said. Deeply non-public and disturbing attacks have spilled over into local elections, he said, and Republicans continue to turn a blind eye.

“What disappoints me the most is that prior to 2016, every single Republican in the state would have condemned him for saying things like this, or anyone for saying things like that,” Webber said. “And now, you know, they’re fine with it. “

Basye, in interviews with The Independent on Thursday, proved that he was the author of the social media posts and responses to emails that circulated among his political enemies. He feels justified in employing that language, he said, because he himself is attacked, even himself. she said, hurtful messages after her mother died of COVID-19 in 2020.

“I’m very comfortable expressing what I think the way I do,” Basye said. “And I’ll keep doing it until I don’t do it anymore. “

District 19 could replace the balance of power in the Missouri Senate. Until Basye ran for office, Webber was not due to face opposition in the Aug. 1 and Nov. 1 general elections.

If he wins, he will cede a seat to the Democratic Party that Republicans held for years and was most recently held by Senate President Pro Tem Caleb Rowden, who defeated Webber by 20.

This year’s election promises one of the largest rotations of Senate seats since term limits went into effect. If Democrats win two Senate seats this year, they will break the two-thirds supermajority the GOP has enjoyed in the chamber for more than a decade.

Basye in the House from 2014 to 2022. Last year I said I wouldn’t let Webber run unopposed, but it took O’Laughlin’s overdue call last week for him to enter the race.

In an interview Thursday, O’Laughlin said he considered Basye combative on social media, but hadn’t noticed any of them using profanity or anti-LGBTQ language.

After reading several messages in a verbal telephone exchange, O’Laughlin said, “I don’t know what to say about this. I didn’t see those things. It would be worth having a verbal exchange with him. “

For two years, Webber and Basye colleagues at Missouri House.

Webber won House elections in 2008 after returning to Colombia after his second assignment with the Marines in Iraq. He enlisted in the Marine Corps after the terrorist attacks and his second tour included a nine-month tour in 2006 and 2007 in Fallujah with Company C of the 1. er Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment.

Webber held his seat at Columbia during the eight-year term limit. After the 2016 election to Rowden, he served as chairman of the Missouri Democratic Party and most recently is the political director of the Missouri AFL-CIO.

Basye won House elections in 2014, defeating a sitting Democrat by 300 votes in his first term. Basye, like Webber, was a Marine and served from 1976 to 1980. Then I worked for the FAA at Columbia Regional Airport and retired after a while. before launching his candidacy for Missouri House.

Like Webber, Basye has served the full 8 years allowed. Since leaving Array, he has worked in U. S. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer’s district and ran unsuccessfully for a seat on the Columbia School Board.

He left Luetkemeyer’s post in the district on June 30.

Basye likes to interact on social media, and since running for Senate, he has hurled private insults or used profanity and sexual imagery to attack his critics.

Communications rep. and retired journalist Scott Charton welcomed Basye’s entry into the Senate race by posting several screenshots on social media of Bayse’s obscenities in reaction to the complaint on Facebook.

Charton shared the screenshots with the comment “Chuck Basye Charm School. “

In reaction to the post, Basye wrote, “I bet Scott Charton doesn’t handle a lot of scales!!Isn’t that right, you bastard?

When asked for comment, Charton said, “Bless him. I hope Chuck Basye gets what he so desperately needs.

The Independent has dozens of examples of Basye’s posts, and his critics have circulated many more.

In an interview Thursday, Basye said he was right in what he wrote because he was protecting himself from attack.

“You see an aspect of those little clips that they post on their social media,” Basye said. “I’ve never started any of this. It’s a reaction when someone else attacks me. So there you have it. You have to take a look at the total story.

But Basye also sends rude and defamatory emails and has used the platform to check Webber’s service at the Marine Corps.

In August, Basye responded to another fundraising email from Webber wondering about his military’s bona fides. After expressing a wish for Webber to fornicate, Basye demanded that he “prove he’s your DD214, you thief. “

Form DD214 Assignments of duties assigned to members of the armed forces when they leave active duty.

In the interview leading up to his performance, Basye said he sent the message because Webber isn’t a tidy locker room. The navy blue label requires a shirt’s buttons to be aligned with the belt buckle, he said.

“Every time I see Stephen, it looks like he’s sleeping in his clothes,” Basye said.

In an interview this week, Basye said it’s because he hasn’t noticed Webber on occasions that he believes they’re vital to veterans.

“I don’t wonder about their services,” Basye said. I wonder why he only runs to deserve his veteran prestige when he runs for office. “

He has no doubt that Webber was in the Marine Corps or fought in Iraq, Basye said.

“Stephen was hell in Fallujah,” he said.

Webber said Basye uses social media to say things he wouldn’t dare say in person.

“He’s a keyboard warrior,” he said, Webber. Es’s very difficult when he’s in a position of power, but I don’t think he’s necessarily a difficult guy.

In February, while Webber was dining at Murry’s, a popular place to eat in Colombia, Basye arrived with his brother.

Basye said he was seeking a truce.

“I went there and apologized to Stephen,” Basye said. “It was a great conversation. In fact, I like it. I think he’s a great guy. “

He said he told Webber that “politics tends to create a little bit of friction here and there” and that he would avoid name-calling and profanity.

“It’s going to come from me,” he told Webber.

Webber said he accepted the apology, but only because Basye revealed some of the personal issues he was facing at the time. Without that explanation, Webber said, the apology would have sounded hollow.

“When I just say, ‘Hey, I have a history of all those terrible things and now I’m sorry,’ and at the same time express what drives me to do this, that admitting is the first step in seeking to solve the problem,” Webber said.

Bayse didn’t keep his promise, Webber said.

“The attacks he throws at me are weird, but I’m a public figure, so it’s OK,” she said. “It is sexual harassment, homophobia and vulgarity towards ordinary citizens that crosses the line. If you need to say crazy things about me, do it. Okay. “

In this election, for the first time, Boone County will elect a state senator without the votes of any other county. When Webber lost District 19 in 2016, he narrowly won on home soil and the race went to Rowden in Cooper County.

The consensus among political observers in Colombia is that the seat would go to a Democrat in almost any and all scenarios, Smith said.

He is Basye and Webber and says he doubts Basye thinks it’s likely to beat Webber.

“I think he’s kind of a chaotic candidate, but that’s what a lot of Republicans are doing now,” Smith said. “And if they don’t succeed, they will at least put big obstacles under the civic chair. “

Boone County Republican Central Committee Chairman Tony Lupo said he was both happy and surprised to see Basye run for the seat.

“When you have an empty position, you’re satisfied that you’re willing to step in and accept the threat of showing up,” Lupo said.

Basye said he didn’t need to run away. It took several calls from O’Laughlin to convince him, as he had no crusade prepared.

“They were just looking for the most productive thing possible to locate someone to introduce and no one was interested because of the dynamics of Boone County,” Basye said.

Webber has no Democratic opposition to the race because he had been in the race for more than a year before running. In doing so, he has amassed the most money for a crusade of any candidate running for a Senate seat this year, and the joint fundraising committee supporting him has the largest reserve of money for independent spending.

Rowden, the current incumbent of the District, will leave politics after 12 years representing Boone County in the General Assembly.

In an interview, Rowden said he hadn’t noticed Basye’s vulgar messages and turned down the offer to see some of them. After reading a few, he said he would ask Basye to withdraw from the race.

“I don’t agree with Chuck’s use of that language,” Rowden said.

Their fear is locating the lawmaker in their district, Rowden said.

“I need someone here to fight for Colombia and for Boone County,” he said. “Actually, I think those two guys would do that. Other than that, I don’t agree with what he said. So I’ll be satisfied with saying it.

Lupo said he had heard Basye was combative, but hadn’t noticed any of his social media posts.

“He’s got a wry sense of humor, I’ll put it that way,” Lupo said. “He can care about people. But I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that he just likes to have a debate. about whether it’s friendly or not.

When shown some messages, Lupo was obviously shocked and said “oh my God” and “oh wow” to many.

“It’s pretty tough, but he’s a tough guy,” Lupo said.

There’s no doubt Basye’s online personality will be an asset to the district, Lupo said.

“He’s going to have to answer for those who participate in the campaign,” Lupo said of Bayse’s social media posts. “I don’t approve. But Chuck is Chuck, and he looks very difficult when he attacks his opponents. .

Although he had a reaction to Lupo upon reading the messages, O’Laughlin said he wouldn’t ask Basye to step aside.

“There’s going to be someone who says anything that you think is beyond the bounds of polite conversation,” he said.

She is continuing her candidacy, O’Laughlin said.

“I can’t be Chuck’s monitor,” O’Laughlin said. I think Chuck has done some smart things in his life. For the most part, I think he has clever intentions. Maybe you want to take a break from social media.

In the past, a simple outrageous comment was enough for many Missouri Republicans to repudiate a candidate.

In 2012, then-Republican Senator Kurt Schaefer, who is running for re-election in the 19th district, convicted U. S. Rep. Todd Akin, the GOP candidate for U. S. Senate, after Akin said in an interview that a woman could get pregnant by “statutory rape. “”.

Schaefer called on Akin to withdraw from the race, as did many other leaders.

Basye said he responded to any calls from Republicans asking him to resign, but that he had been asked to replace his online persona.

“It doesn’t do anything, I won a call to resign,” Basye said, “and I won’t. “

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by Rudi Keller, Missouri Independent March 29, 2024