Remember This Gyrocopter Guy? He Wants Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s Seat in Congress

In April of this year, a man in Washington with a firm political agenda made headlines, but not for the reasons you would ever expect. The man — 61-year-old Douglas Hughes of Florida — flew a single-person gyrocopter squarely onto the lawn of the U.S. Capitol in Washington and was, predictably, immediately arrested. The publicity-driven event was to oppose the Citizens United ruling, the Supreme Court case that ruled that corporate donations to political campaigns and Super PACs qualified as free speech.

While Hughes was indicted and is facing sentencing next year after pleading guilty to a felony in the gyrocopter flight incident, he has set his sights on the next place to land: inside the U.S. Capitol itself, this time as an elected official to replace current DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

Wasserman Schultz serves as the Congresswoman for Florida’s 23rd District. Hughes told The Washington Post that she is the “…poster child of establishment politics on the Democratic side.”

Hughes continued:

“I want to get the money out of politics and return the power to the voters, rather than the connected voters and the wealthy… That’s what I flew for, and that’s what I’m running for.”

Lawyers for Hughes are reportedly saying that the potential for conviction next year does not interfere with his political ambitions.

Check out the original video of Hughes’ flight in April via AP/Charlotte Richardson:

[image via screengrab]
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