Shawn Oliver, a transphobic 42-year-old Republican now-former candidate for lieutenant governor in Massachusetts, suspended his campaign on Sunday after being arrested on Saturday night for crashing and overturning his car while under the suspected influence of alcohol.
Around 11:40 pm, Oliver allegedly hit multiple parked vehicles in the area of New Bedford, damaging five cars — two of which sustained “extensive damage” — and overturning his own car. He was taken to St. Luke’s Hospital for injuries and then arrested and booked into the Ash Street Jail immediately afterward on charges of negligent operation of a motor vehicle, speeding, and a marked lanes violation, the New Bedford Light reported.
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Oliver, who is also a member of the New Bedford City Council, was asked to drop out of his race for Lt. Gov. by his running mate, Republican gubernatorial candidate Mike Minogue. Writing this on social media, Minogue added, “When elected, I will formally ask for his resignation.”
The Massachusetts Republican Party also called on Oliver to drop out of the race.
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“After careful reflection, I have made the decision to suspend my campaign for Lieutenant Governor,” Oliver wrote on his Facebook page after his release from jail. “This election is too important to be overshadowed by personal matters. I want to sincerely thank everyone who has supported me throughout this journey and ask that my family’s privacy be respected during this difficult time.”
In 2023, Oliver posted three transphobic memes to Facebook, including one that said, “How women have changed over the years” and showed four cartoon images of a woman’s pubic hair shrinking each decade from the 1970s until eventually revealing male genitalia in the 2000s. He also posted a meme of a car with “Teach Kids to Change Gears Not Genders” written on its window. The last meme showed a Black man using a public urinal next to a white person with long blond hair in a pink skirt; the caption read, “When you regret voting Democrat.”
Oliver eventually apologized for the memes in March 2023, saying that he had “carelessly and thoughtlessly shared some insensitive memes” and adding, “I do see that my actions caused harm and for that, I apologize.”
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