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Extreme Makeover: Former NJ Wrestler Transforms Into Texas Cowboy To Run For Congress

Dan Rodimer touted his Jersey roots the last time he ran -- in Nevada.

Here's a New Jersey man and former WWE wrestler who attended Seton Hall prep school and ran unsuccessfully as a Republican candidate in Nevada. Now he's wearing a cowboy hat and affecting some kind of Southern drawl while riding a bull while he runs for Congress. Hey, it's Texas -- this time, he might win! Via the Washington Post:

In his first ad as a candidate for Texas’s 6th Congressional District, “Big Dan” Rodimer speaks in a gravelly, indistinct Southern accent, throws jabs at Democratic policies and compares House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to a bull. The bull he’s supposedly riding in the ad.

But the New Jersey native didn’t have the twang last year when he ran for Congress in Nevada. In one of those ads, resurfaced by the American Independent, Rodimer’s voice was softer and more clear as he defended himself against assault allegations raised by his opponent. Rather than a rodeo arena, he was surrounded at home by his children and wife — who, at one point in the campaign, was forced to explain the 911 calls she had made against him.

Rodimer has remade himself again on a road he hopes will lead to Congress, though his latest persona has earned him ridicule, even from fellow Republicans.

The ad, in particular, has renewed criticism that Rodimer, with no known connection to the 6th District, is a carpetbagger pandering to the Texas electorate. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) attacked Rodimer and the ad: “Fake Texan makes fake video of fake bull ride.”

According to Wikipedia,

Rodimer has been accused three times of assault but has no convictions. After an arrest on charges of battery in 2010 Rodimer entered a deferred prosecution agreement. In that agreement he admitted to committing the offense, and upon completion of a six-week anger management training course the charge was dropped. He was also accused of assault in 2011 and 2013, according to records from the Collier County Sheriff's Office; however, in both cases no charges were filed.

Sounds like a Republican winner to me!

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