Arthur J. Jones

Arthur Joseph Jones (born January 1, 1948) is an American neo-Nazi, Holocaust denier and perennial candidate. After running unopposed in the primary election, he was the Republican candidate for Illinois's 3rd congressional district in the 2018 midterm elections, losing to Democrat Dan Lipinski (who was also endorsed by the GOP).

Early life and career Jones was born in Beloit, Wisconsin, to Lillian Jones, a Sunday School teacher and Arthur Joseph Jones Sr., a factory worker and World War II veteran. He graduated from high school in 1967. He joined the United States Army in 1969 and served in Vietnam for one year during the Vietnam War. He studied at University of Wisconsin–Whitewater from 1974 and majored in political science and journalism.

Jones is an independent insurance broker who worked in commission sales for large insurance companies for 25 years.

Politics Affiliations Jones was a member of the National Socialist White People's Party for eight years and describes himself as a former leader of the American Nazi Party, the NSWPP's former name.

Candidacy A perennial candidate, Jones has run for various elected offices since 1976, but has never won an office. In that year, Jones unsuccessfully ran for mayor of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In 1987, he unsuccessfully ran for alderman of the 13th Ward of Chicago.

In 2017, Jones declared his intent to run for the Republican nomination for Congress from Illinois's 3rd congressional district in 2018; he was the only declared candidate of that party. His candidacy was repudiated by the Illinois Republican Party Jones won the primary unopposed on March 20, 2018, and moved on to face Democratic incumbent Dan Lipinski in the general election. Following his primary victory, Republican party officials encouraged members not to vote for Jones. Despite the GOP disavowing him, 26.2 percent of voters still voted for him in the general election on November 6, 2018, as he lost by more than 47 points. When Republicans ran for the seat in the previous ten years they earned 35.4%, 31.5%, 24.3%, and 21.4% of their respective votes.

Jones ran for Congress in Illinois's 3rd congressional district again in 2020 and was described as a "fake Republican" by the party whose nomination he was attempting to gain. One of the party's digital ads ran with the slogan "Say No To The Nazi". He placed a poor third in the eventual result of the primaries.

Views Jones is a white nationalist and Holocaust denier. Jones does not support interracial marriage or integration in public schools. Jones also “saluted” Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan for his views about Jews, as well as referring to Jews as the enemy.

A neo-Nazi, Jones appears in a photo captioned: "Jones was a guest speaker at the event organized by the Loyal White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, based in North Carolina"; the image is in a slideshow on his own official candidate website. The same slideshow has another image (captioned "Arthur Jones speaking in Harrisburg Penn., on November 5, 2016") showing him among black-clothed men who hold a National Socialist Movement banner and carry shields marked with the neo-Nazi circle-cross emblem. The same slideshow has an image showing Jones speaking amid Aryan Nations emblems (caption: "Art Jones speaking at the Aryan Nations 2014 World Congress in Converse, La.")

Jones has attended many rallies commemorating Adolf Hitler or supporting white supremacy. In February 2018, Jones nonetheless said President Trump "surrounded himself with hordes of Jews", and regrets his 2016 vote.