{"id":1355712,"date":"2022-03-02T13:55:04","date_gmt":"2022-03-02T18:55:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1355712"},"modified":"2022-03-02T19:07:48","modified_gmt":"2022-03-03T00:07:48","slug":"texas-gop-congressman-drops-re-election-bid-after-affair","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/texas-gop-congressman-drops-re-election-bid-after-affair\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas GOP Congressman Drops Re-Election Bid After Affair"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ftexas-gop-congressman-drops-re-election-bid-after-affair%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1355712&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/dw-wp-production.imgix.net\/2022\/03\/D718B1A2-9EFE-49D9-A672-EC7BD45C2750-scaled.jpeg?w=1200&#038;h=800&#038;ixlib=react-9.3.0\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/div>\n<p>Congressman Van Taylor (R-TX) announced on Wednesday that he will be dropping out of his bid for re-election due to the \u201cdeep pain\u201d he caused his wife and daughters after he had an affair sometime last year.<\/p>\n<p>While Taylor did not name the individual with whom he had an affair, his announcement comes just days after a woman named Tania Joya \u2013 an apparent widow of an American turned soldier of the Islamic State \u2014 accused the congressman of having improper relations with her while married, including paying her money to keep it quiet.<\/p>\n<p>Taylor received 49% of the vote in the GOP primary for Texas\u2019 third congressional district on Tuesday, but was set to face a run-off election against opponent, former Collin County Judge Keith Self.<\/p>\n<p>The Dallas Morning News <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dallasnews.com\/news\/politics\/2022\/03\/02\/last-minute-infidelity-allegation-helped-force-two-term-plano-rep-van-taylor-into-runoff\/?outputType=amp\">reported<\/a> that Joya \u2014 who has been nicknamed the ISIS Bride by some media outlets \u2013 went to GOP congressional candidate Suzanne Harp last week with the allegation in hopes that she could chat with Taylor privately and convince him to drop out of the race and resign from Congress.<\/p>\n<p>But, Harp didn\u2019t meet with her and instead sent a supporter who interviewed Joya, recorded the conversation, and gave it to a website, which then published it, the Dallas Morning News noted:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><em>On Sunday afternoon, two days before the primary, a rightwing website, National File, posted audio of that 35-minute interview full of salacious details about the nine-month affair. The next day, the conservative site Breitbart posted a similar story that it labeled \u201cexclusive.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>In 2013, Joya\u2019s husband moved the family to Syria from London and joined ISIS. Shortly after, she escaped and eventually moved her family to live with her in-laws in Plano, Texas. In 2017, it was reported that her husband had been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/lifeandstyle\/2020\/sep\/04\/experience-i-was-married-to-an-islamic-state-leader\">killed in a bomb blast by U.S. forces<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>According to the Dallas Morning News, Joya claimed she met Taylor \u201cthrough her work as an ex-jihadist helping to reprogram extremists, and the affair lasted from October 2020 to June 2021.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>On Monday, Harp described Taylor\u2019s alleged behavior as \u201cshocking \u2026 disturbing and unbecoming of a sitting U.S. Representative,\u201d and warned that it would be \u201cdangerous to have compromised and corrupt representation in Washington.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For his part, Taylor took full responsibility for his philandering but did not state if Joya was his mistress.<\/p>\n<p>Taylor has until March 16 to resign via writing submitted to the Texas state GOP chair. If he does that, Self would be the GOP nominee for the district.<\/p>\n<p>Taylor sent the following letter to his supporters explaining his exit from the race, <a href=\"https:\/\/dfw.cbslocal.com\/2022\/03\/02\/texas-gop-congressman-van-taylor-suspends-reelection-campaign-infidelity\/\">according<\/a> to CBS Dallas-Forth Worth:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><em>Friend,<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Today I am announcing I will not continue my campaign to seek re-election to Congress.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>About a year ago, I made a horrible mistake that has caused deep hurt and pain among those I love most in this world. I had an affair, it was wrong, and it was the greatest failure of my life.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>I want to apologize for the pain I have caused with my indiscretion, most of all to my wife Anne and our three daughters. For months, Anne and I have been working to repair the scars left by my actions. I am unworthy, but eternally thankful for her love and forgiveness. Now, over the last few days I have started those same conversations with my three daughters who are the light of my life and deserve so much better.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>I know the hurt does not stop there. I have let down so many other family members, friends, colleagues, supporters, and the people of the 3rd Congressional District whom I have had the great honor and privilege to represent. I am truly sorry, and I hope in time I can earn their forgiveness.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>I appreciate your understanding that this is a personal matter between me and my family.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>I have talked with Keith Self to let him know of my decision, and I wish him the best as he seeks to become the next congressman for this district.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Sincerely,<\/em><br \/><em>Van Taylor<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Taylor notably did not receive former President Donald J. Trump\u2019s endoresment after her voted to certify the 2020 election.<\/p>\n<p><i>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a\u00a0<\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\"><i>member<\/i><\/a><i>.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Congressman Van Taylor (R-TX) announced on Wednesday that he will be dropping out of his bid for re-election due to the \u201cdeep pain\u201d he caused his wife and daughters after<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1355712","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1355712","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1355712"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1355712\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1355712"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1355712"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1355712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}