An alleged neo-Nazi is now allowed to run for office in North Carolina
An alleged neo-Nazi and convicted felon has been permitted to stay on the Republican ballot in North Carolina’s Rockingham County following a decision on the matter by the state’s election board on January 16th.
However, the story is far more complicated than you might think. It’s filled with possible political intrigue centered around a man who has been flagged by the Anti-Defamation League as a supporter of extremism.
Joseph Gibson III is running for State Congress in North Carolina’s 65th District. But the North Carolina Republican Party attempted to block Gibson’s candidacy, leading to a very complicated and messy political situation.
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This isn’t the first time Gibson has tried to run for office. Vice reported that Gibson lost a primary against an incumbent candidate in 2022, though he did manage to snatch up to 20% of the vote according to Vice.
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Following his loss, the Anti-Defamation League Center on Extremism exposed Gibson’s alleged ties to neo-Nazi groups in a report that showed Gibson had a relationship with the National Socialist Movement.
The National Socialist Movement is described as a “long-standing neo-Nazi group” that has its current headquarters in Kissimmee, Florida. Today the group is small but still the largest neo-Nazi group in the US.
Vice noted Republican officials in Rockingham Country tried to challenge the candidacy of Gibson on the grounds of his previous criminal record rather than his alleged beliefs and ideologies. But that did not go well.
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Gibson has a felony record from Connecticut dating back the 1990s according to WRAL News, and officials from the North Carolina Republican Party tried to have Gibson taken off the ticket on those grounds.
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However, Gibson had finished his probation over a decade before attempting to run for office, a condition that state law requires for any felon who wishes to regain their voting rights. So what happened next?
Gibson testified he had had his voting rights restored and moved to North Carolina in 2025 according to The Assembly. This left Gibson’s challenge up to the decision of the county and state election boards, which voted 3-2 to keep him on the ballot.
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The two Republican members of Rockingham County’s election board were outvoted by three Democrats. On January 16th, the decision by Rockingham County was upheld by the state election board in a unanimous 4-0.
"I'm leaning, reluctantly, toward the conclusion that we do affirm the county board's decision," explained Stacey Eggers IV, a Republican member of the state board's GOP members, just before the vote to do just that.
WRAL News reported that the State Board of Elections’ decision was decided based on Gibson’s criminal record rather than his current views. However, Republican leaders say Democrats in Rockingham Country had an ulterior motive.
North Carolina House GOP Caucus Director Stephen Wiley spoke with WRAL News on the decision to allow Gibson to run in the 65th District and said Democrats in the county wanted Gibson on the ballot to embarrass the rest of the Republican Party in the state.
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"Democrats decided they wanted a Nazi in the Republican primary, so that if even one person votes for him they can say 'Look, Republicans support Nazis,'" Wiley explained. It’s a theory that would make some sense.
Rockingham Country Democrat and election board member Thurman Hampton denied the claim. “How would I know he’s a Nazi?” Hampton said. "We were not there to talk about his credibility, or his suitability…It was one simple question: Was he eligible?"
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Gibson has denied the allegations that he is, or was, connected to the National Socialist Movement, though admitted the group had called into his podcast. Gibson now wants an apology for the "character assassination" and "political assassination," he suffered.
Photo Credit: Facebook @joseph.gibson.9277