Rudy Pantoja

Rudolph McCoy-Pantoja Jr. (born July 20, 1964)[1] is an American perennial political candidate and resident of Seattle, Washington. He became an internet meme due to a 2016 viral video of him jokingly identifying as "Hugh Mungus".

The "Hugh Mungus" incident

On August 10, 2016, Pantoja spoke at a public meeting of the Seattle City Council, supporting a new police station in the North Precinct, crediting the police for helping his heroin-addicted daughter getting treatment. Black Lives Matter activists were present demonstrating against the police expansion, and were recorded off-camera speaking out of turn and deriding Pantoja as he spoke and mistakenly assumed his race to be white. Pantoja is Chicano.[2] At the meeting, activist Zarna Joshi spoke against the new police station and police in general. After the meeting, she was videotaping Pantoja when he was asked his name. When Pantoja offered the gag name "Hugh Mungus", Joshi responded by angrily and repeatedly asking "Humongous what?", accusing him of sexual harassment, pursuing him with her camera, and ultimately ending up in an altercation with the authorities present.[3][4] The video gained particular notoriety online following a reaction video posted by YouTube channel h3h3Productions, with many citing Joshi as an extreme example of a social justice warrior.[5]

Community activities

Pantoja chose not to take part in the Great American Boycott on May 1, 2006. He instead was seen sweeping a sidewalk in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle.[6]

Following the 2012 Packers–Seahawks officiating controversy, Pantoja attempted to exchange gifts with Green Bay, Wisconsin mayor Jim Schmitt. After Schmitt's office refused the gifts, Pantoja exchanged gifts with Delavan, Wisconsin mayor Mel Nieuwenhuis. Pantoja sent local beer, smoked salmon and kringles to Nieuwenhuis. In return Nieuwenhuis planned to send a "six or 12-pack of Miller High Life, cheese and fresh venison he hunted himself."[7]

A gardener by profession, he ran for Washington House of Representatives in 1994, 1996, and 2002. He ran for Seattle City Council in 2017.[1]

Personal life

Pantoja is of Mexican, German and Native American descent and considers himself to be Chicano.[8] A GoFundMe campaign started by Ethan Klein of h3h3Productions in November 2016 raised $155,000 for him after he faced several health problems. Klein originally set up a YouCaring campaign, but it was shut down.[9] Some of the problems he faced were a hip replacement, his truck breaking down, and being served an eviction notice.[10]

Electoral history
Washington State Representative Primary Election District 36 Position 2, 1994[11]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Mary Lou Dickerson 4,922 23.32
Republican Richard P. Cantrell 3,343 15.84
Democratic Mark Lindquist 3,316 15.71
Democratic Jeffrey Coopersmith 3,247 15.38
Democratic Don Moreland 2,020 9.57
Democratic Chris Snell 1,965 9.31
Republican Rudy Pantoja 1,442 6.83
Democratic Cleve Stockmeyer 850 4.03
Total votes 21,105 100.0
Washington State Representative Election District 36 Position 2, 1996[12]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Mary Lou Dickerson 38,704 74.53
Republican Rudy Pantoja 11,358 21.87
Natural Law Bonita Carol Brett 1,871 3.60
Total votes 51,933 100.0
Washington State Representative Election District 36 Position 2, 2002[13]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Mary Lou Dickerson 36,226 80.40
Republican Rudy Pantoja 8,831 19.60
Total votes 45,057 100.0
Seattle City Council Primary Election Position 8, 2017[14]
Party Candidate Votes %
Non-partisan Teresa Mosqueda 24,907 30.80
Non-partisan Jon Grant 19,640 24.29
Non-partisan Sara E. Nelson 18,704 23.13
Non-partisan Rudy Pantoja 4,650 5.75
Non-partisan Charlene D. Strong 4,191 5.18
Non-partisan Sheley Secrest 3,864 4.78
Non-partisan Hisam Goueli 2,548 3.15
Non-partisan Mac McGregor 2,066 2.56
Write-in Write-in 284 0.35
Total votes 80,854 100.0

References
  1. Ralphie (25 April 2006). "Our Campaigns - Candidate - Rudy McCoy-Pantoja Jr". ourcampaigns.com. Our Campaigns. Retrieved 7 August 2017.
  2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3LDWHIcggs. BEFORE THE HUGH MUNGUS INCIDENT (original video). Retrieved 2020-01-16.
  3. "Guy Says His Name Is "Hugh Mungus," BLM Activist Cries Sexual Harassment (Archive)". Heat Street. 2016-08-22. Archived from the original on 2016-11-03. Retrieved 2017-08-02.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
  4. "Candidate Profile: Rudy Pantoja Jr". Seattle Met. Retrieved 2017-08-02.
  5. "Hugh Mungus Facebook Meme Mocks 'Triggered' Woman". The Daily Dot. 7 September 2016.
  6. "Immigrants Rally And Hold Boycotts Nationwide". Retrieved 2017-08-02.
  7. "Seahawks fan to exchange gifts with Wis. mayor". The Seattle Times. 2012-09-29. Retrieved 2017-08-02.
  8. "H3 Podcast #18 - Hugh Mungus". H3 Podcast (via YouTube). Retrieved 4 August 2017. ...It's Mexican-American. My grandparents are from Mexico, and on my mom's side, we got the German and the Native American...
  9. "Hugh Mungus Fundraiser SHUT DOWN". YouTube. h3h3Productions. 8 November 2016. Retrieved 7 June 2019.
  10. "Seven candidates file for Seattle City Council Position 8 race". CHS Capitol Hill Seattle. 2017-01-30. Retrieved 2017-08-02.
  11. 40229Olympia, Contact Us Washington Secretary of StateElections Division520 Union Ave SEPO Box; Policy, WA 98504-0229902-4180 Privacy. "Election Search Results - Elections & Voting - WA Secretary of State". Retrieved 2017-08-02.
  12. 40229Olympia, Contact Us Washington Secretary of StateElections Division520 Union Ave SEPO Box; Policy, WA 98504-0229902-4180 Privacy. "Election Search Results - Elections & Voting - WA Secretary of State". Retrieved 2017-08-02.
  13. 40229Olympia, Contact Us Washington Secretary of StateElections Division520 Union Ave SEPO Box; Policy, WA 98504-0229902-4180 Privacy. "Election Search Results - Elections & Voting - WA Secretary of State". Retrieved 2017-08-02.
  14. "2017 Results August primary election". Retrieved 2017-08-02.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.