Can Laura Loomer ride a right-wing wave into the General Election?

Laura Loomer became a right-wing favorite thanks to her numerous attention-grabbing stunts on social media. Now she’s seeking to be the conservative standard-bearer in Florida’s 21st Congressional District.

Loomer is one of six people seeking the GOP nomination in CD 21. She’s battling Christian Acosta, Elizabeth Felton, Aaron Scanlan, Reba Sherrill and Michael Vilardi in Tuesday’s primary.

Loomer has been a lightning rod of controversy for her anti-Muslim remarks and other antics. She supported Hallandale Beach Commissioner Anabelle Lima-Taub after Lima-Taub claimed Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, a Muslim, might “blow up Capitol Hill.”

Loomer was also banned from Twitter after calling Minnesota U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar “anti-Jewish.” Facebook, Instagram, Medium, and several other social media platforms have cast Loomer aside as well.

Nevertheless, Loomer has been endorsed by the likes of U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz and longtime GOP operative Roger Stone.

She was granted some more time in the spotlight earlier this year, when she appeared in Tallahassee to support a bill by Republican Party of Florida Chair and state Sen. Joe Gruters that would social media platforms with 75 million subscribers or more such as Facebook and Twitter to end “social media bias and banning.”

At the Capitol, the self-described conservative investigative journalist said she got banned by every major media site “by telling the truth, by speaking facts, by speaking up in America where we supposedly have free speech.”

Loomer was able to consistently raise money as well, crossing the $1 million mark by late July. While that total put her well ahead of her GOP competitors, Loomer spent big on fundraising fees just to collect that total in the first place. That led to much of her funding going out of her campaign as quickly as it came in.

Acosta is a Palm Beach State College professor who has not held public office before. He managed to secure an endorsement from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, but has failed to raise much money ahead of Tuesday’s contest.

Felton runs a business featuring several exotic animals. She’s focused on the issue of exotic animal ownership during her campaign, arguing animal rights groups should not advocate against humans owning them.

Scanlan is an Air Force veteran who also spent more than two decades working for the Jupiter Police Department. He opposes defunding the police and told the Palm Beach Post his top three issues are clean water, protecting seniors and lowering prescription drug prices.

Vilardi is a former IRS criminal investigator who has made reforms within that agency a pillar of his campaign.

Though Loomer has attracted plenty of controversy, Sherrill may be even further on the fringe. She advocates for the wild QAnon conspiracy, which believes in a secret, elite pedophile ring where rich people abuse and eat children.

All six of those candidates will face a sharply uphill battle come November. Incumbent Lois Frankel is facing Guido Weiss in the Democratic primary, though she’s favored to emerge.

Democrats have a 17.5 point advantage over Republicans in terms of voter registration within the district. Frankel won reelection in 2016 by more than 25 points and ran unopposed in 2018.

While Loomer led her Republican rivals in fundraising, she’s still trailing Frankel significantly in cash on hand. Loomer holds around $220,000 as of July 29 while Frankel retains more than $1.25 million.

Write-in candidates Piotr Blass and Sylvia Caravetta have also qualified, as has non-party affiliated candidate Charleston Malkemus. The general election matchup will take place on Nov. 3.