A rock musician who has bragged about a promiscuous lifestyle with young women and once wrote and recorded a song about sexual relations with a thirteen-year-old girl has publicly endorsed several challengers to Republican state representatives who voted for pro-family bills that were priority pieces of legislation for conservative activists.
The endorsement by Ted Nugent has been promoted by four legislative challengers on their websites or social media accounts. Candidates who have touted endorsements from Nugent include Mike Olcott (challenging Representative Glenn Rogers in House District 60), Andy Hopper (challenging Representative Lynn Stucky in House District 64), and Mitch Little (challenging Representative Kronda Thimesch in House District 65).
Candidate Brent Money, who was defeated by Representative Jill Dutton in a recent special election to fill the vacancy created by the expulsion of disgraced former State Representative Bryan Slaton, has also promoted an endorsement by Nugent. Money, who is facing off with Dutton once again in the Republican primary, featured a life-sized sign of Nugent to promote the endorsement during his special election campaign.
Slaton was expelled from the Texas House in May after it was discovered he had supplied alcohol at his apartment to a nineteen-year-old intern who worked in his office, took her virginity, and obtained an emergency contraceptive for her the following day. The Texas House challengers endorsed by Nugent have also received significant support directly or indirectly from Slaton’s largest financial backers.
Nugent also serves as campaign treasurer for Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, who has endorsed a host of challengers to incumbent members of the Texas House of Representatives.
During last year’s legislative session, the Texas House passed several significant pieces of pro-family legislation that conservative activists praised.
House Bill 900, also known as the “READER Act,” bans sexually explicit materials from public school libraries and requires vendors to rate library materials sold to schools for sexual content. A legal challenge to the READER Act filed by a coalition including the publishing industry is currently pending in federal court.
Senate Bill 12 bans sexually explicit performances, including drag shows, in the presence of children. This new law, which went into effect on September 1, is being challenged in court by LGBT groups and a drag queen.
Senate Bill 14 bans the gender modification and transitioning of children. This law, which also went into effect last year, is the subject of a legal challenge brought by a group of plaintiffs, represented by lawyers from groups including the American Civil Liberties Union and the Transgender Law Center.
Senate Bill 15, also known as the “Save Women’s Sports Act,” requires student-athletes at public colleges and universities in Texas to compete based on their biological sex.
Rogers, Stucky, and Thimesch all voted for each of these bills, which leaders of prominent conservative organizations across Texas hailed. Dutton, who was not sworn into the Texas House until earlier this month, publicly supports these new laws.
In a section of her campaign website under the heading “Stopping the Woke Agenda,” Dutton writes, “It is essential that we protect our children from radical leftist ideology. I won’t stand for gender modification and puberty blockers being used on minors, students don’t need to be exposed to pornographic material in their school libraries, and our daughters shouldn’t be forced to compete against men pretending to be girls. We can and should be doing more to protect our children from predators online. As State Representative, our kids and their safety will always come first.”
While Nugent is opposing Republican legislators who passed laws that proponents say will protect children, he has openly discussed his sexual exploits with teenage girls. In an episode of the VH1 show “Behind the Music,” Nugent spoke positively of a life of sexual excess, describing it as “beautiful.”
“It could have been whiskey, it could have been drugs, but I was a wang dang addict. I mean, I was addicted to girls. Addicted. It was hopeless. It was beautiful,” said Nugent.
In discussing his fondness for young women, Nugent bragged, “I got the stamp of approval of their parents. Because they figured better Ted Nugent than some drug-infested punk in high school.”
Nugent, then thirty, began a years-long relationship with Pele Massa when she was just seventeen years old. In discussing her relationship with Nugent, Massa stated, “I was underage. Even back in the wild 70’s, it just wasn’t really a terribly appropriate situation in most people’s eyes. And now it would be criminal.”
Nugent has written and recorded a number of songs with sexually charged lyrics. One such song, “Jailbait,” features lyrics about sex with a thirteen-year-old girl.
