Former Nazi who won Illinois primary ran in Milwaukee in 1976

Arthur Jones, 70, a former member of the Nazi Party and outspoken Holocaust denier, made news Tuesday when he won the Republican Party primary in Illinois’ 3rd Congressional District, which includes parts of Chicago and its southwestern suburbs.

It wasn’t his first run for office. In 1976, when he was 28 and still a member of the National Socialist White People’s (Nazi) Party, he ran for mayor of Milwaukee.

He received 4,765 votes in the primary and came in fourth out of seven candidates in that race. Attempts were made to block Jones’ name from the ballot.

Incumbent Henry Maier won the 1976 primary with approximately 60,000 votes. In order to prevent Jones from making the final ballot in the nonpartisan race, Jewish organizations threw support behind Jan Olson, who came in second. Roman Blenski, a perennial candidate, finished third with 5,545 votes.

Jones was born in Beloit and attended the University of WisconsinWhitewater.

In March 1976, just one month after the mayoral primary, Jones was convicted of disorderly conduct and was fined $50 for a verbal altercation with a server at a George Webb on Appleton Ave. in Milwaukee.

While at UW-Whitewater, Jones participated in the Young Republicans and a Nationalist Socialist student group. He founded a conservative newspaper on the campus, according to The New York Times.

The Republican Party of Illinois has distanced itself from Jones, who ran unopposed in Tuesday’s primary. The district hasn’t been represented by a Republican since 1975. Incumbent Dan Lipinski won the Democratic primary.