Free Republic

The Amish vote received significant attention throughout the 2024 election cycle as Republican activists worked to mobilize the traditionally low-turnout group. As the frenzy settles, curiosity about its impact continues. The hyper-focus was fueled by extensive communities in battleground states, most of all Pennsylvania. It was also an opportunity to bring the historically politically adverse and traditionalist culture under the Grand Old Party’s umbrella. Some Amish refrain from voting due to beliefs emphasizing separation from "worldly" influences, though a desire for religious freedom and protection from government overreach has drawn more to the polls in recent years. Republican U.S. Rep....

And so it goes as Joe Biden fades to transparency and his handlers howl in outrage and plot Trump’s, and America’s, destruction. After the horrific hurricane damage that destroyed or damaged as many as 100,000 homes in Western North Carolina, one would think FEMA and local officials would move heaven and earth to get those affected out of flimsy tents and trailers and into solid dwellings as winter inexorably descends. One would think wrongly: WNC resident (and X user) Margo reported last month that her area had "56 passenger bus load groups of skilled Amish carpenters coming down from Lancaster...

ELON Musk and Hulk Hogan visibly helped Donald Trump land his victory - but an overlooked sect proved to be the real stars in the Republicans' win. The Amish, known for their aversion to government and elections, showed up and showed out to help Trump secure the most important swing state. This religious group is famous for its passion for farming, dog breeding, and commitment to a deeply conservative lifestyle but 2024 has seen it rise as a political underdog. The reserved group has a population of around 100,000 people in Pennsylvania. The played a quiet role in the vital...

Upper Leacock farmer Amos Miller cannot sell raw milk or dairy products made from it to the public under an order issued by a Lancaster County judge Friday afternoon. Judge Thomas Sponaugle’s order also allows the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture to inspect any location where Miller packages or distributes raw milk and to test Miller’s dairy products. The ruling is a win for the agriculture department, which sought to prevent Miller from producing and selling raw milk and products while its lawsuit against him plays out. But Miller’s California-based attorney, Robert E. Barnes, said the judge actually reduced the scope...

Pennsylvania's traditionally private Amish community registered to vote in 'unprecedented numbers' after government agents stormed a local farm early in the year. The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture raided Amos Miller's farm on January 4, sparking outrage among the state's Amish population, a source familiar with the matter told The New York Post. 'That was the impetus for them to say, "We need to participate,"' the source said. 'This is about neighbors helping neighbors.' The raid by state officials came after reports of children falling ill from raw dairy products purchased at the farm in Bird in Hand, Pennsylvania. 'If you...

SNIP The state’s famed “Pennsylvania Dutch” registered to vote in “unprecedented numbers” in response to a January federal raid on a local raw milk farm in Bird in Hand, Pa., a source familiar with the situation told The Post. The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture raided Amos Miller’s farm Jan. 4 after reports of illnesses in children linked to raw dairy products purchased there, according to the local media outlet Lancaster Farming. “That was the impetus for them to say, ‘We need to participate,’ ” the source said of local Amish voters. “This is about neighbors helping neighbors.”

All the big names hit the “Joe Rogan Experience” before Election Day, and Democratic Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) was no exception. However, he had grim news for the Democratic Party. Fetterman told Rogan that Trump’s message continues to resonate with Pennsylvania voters in a way that differs from other Republican candidates. He expressed concern that Vice President Kamala Harris won’t have enough support to win despite spending significant portions of campaign funds and rallying in the state. Pennsylvania is critical to each candidate as it’s one of the crucial battleground states that could determine the election outcome because it has...

The Amish traditionally don’t vote in presidential elections due to their faith-based beliefs and Christianity’s historic separatism from mainstream society. Still, this year brings a whole new ball game as the candidates seek support from the horse and buggy riding group. Since the Amish are a reliably conservative group given their faith-based convictions, reluctance to engage with people outside of their culture and lack of eagerness to conform to modern-day technology, the group can drastically shift the outcome of some rural states such as Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Wisconsin. A report from Elizabethtown College recorded that about 90,000 Amish live...

Amish voters in the upcoming presidential election may be an important demographic in former President Donald Trump winning Pennsylvania. Rep. Lloyd Smucker (R-PA), who grew up Amish, spoke to Fox News about how more Amish had switched from farming to running businesses, and were “becoming much more engaged politically.” Smucker noted that people in the Amish community “love President Trump” because of “his policies,” adding that they like Trump because he is in favor of small government among many other reasons. The Republican congressman explained that the Amish are “very interested in religious liberty” and are “concerned about the border...

Republicans in Pennsylvania are seeing a higher percentage of low-propensity voters turn out and vote than Democrats are, Rob Bresnahan, Republican candidate for Congress in Pennsylvania’s 8th Congressional District, said during an interview on Breitbart News Daily. Bresnahan said the GOP currently has about 17 percent participation from low-propensity voters in the state — people who did not vote in 2020 and/or 2022 — compared to the Democrats, who are seeing 11 percent participation from that same group. The congressional hopeful said the trends are good, and described the energy on the ground as “shocking.” “The response that we’ve had...

Who would have thought the Amish would ever vote for ANYONE? I heard they are voting for Donald Trump (not Kamala Harris) in the 2024 election. So I went to their world headquarters to find out why. And what an insight

The religious community traditionally abstains from taking part in elections, but Republicans believe their votes could be crucial in the US presidential electionTraditionally the Amish do not vote. In the past they wanted little to do with government, believing instead that they serve the higher kingdom of God. Now, among this deeply religious community known for rejecting modern technology, the attitude to politics is changing and the “Amish vote” has been relentlessly targeted in one of America’s swing states. “Trump has some good ideas, especially on the economy,” Henry Stoltz, an Amish vegetable farmer, said. “But you see, I don’t...

A get-out-the-vote strategist is suggesting that Amish voters could influence the 2024 presidential election, saying they “could literally save western civilization in November.” Scott Pressler, who leads the political action committee Early Vote Action, which aims to “elect Republicans by mobilizing a nationwide grassroots effort for voter registration and increasing absentee and early voting,” posted on X (formerly Twitter) Saturday, urging former President Donald Trump to reach out to Amish voters in Pennsylvania. “I spoke to an Amish man last night that really wants you to come to Lancaster, PA. He said more Amish people would be able to attend...

A month ago, news broke that, up in Canada, Justin Trudeau’s government is fining the Amish community $300,000 ($222,660 American dollars). Their crime? They didn’t download the government’s COVID app. The twist, of course, is that the Amish don’t have smartphones. They eschew all modern technology. This story has made almost no headlines, but it’s important because it’s a preview of coming attractions if Kamala becomes president. This is what leftists do. Acting for your own good, they destroy you. As anyone who has watched either Witness or Weird Al Yankovich’s brilliant Amish Paradise knows, the Amish lifestyle does not...

The FBI raided the homes of two of the top members of New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ (D) administration on Wednesday morning, Politico revealed. Several sources told the outlet that NYC First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright’s Manhattan townhome and Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Philip Banks’ Queens single-family residence were both searched as part of an investigation into Adams’ 2021 campaign. The mayor himself was served a grand jury subpoena in July after law enforcement seized his electronic devices in November 2023 over allegations that he colluded with foreign governments, including the government of Turkey, Politico reported. Banks and...

A Missouri man wanted in connection with the 1993 murder of an Indianapolis woman has been arrested and charged with her death over 30 years after the case was opened. Dana Jermaine Shepherd, 52, is charged with two counts of murder and one count of rape in connection with the 1993 death of Carmen Hope Van Huss. Shepherd was arrested in Boone County, Missouri, on Friday, Aug. 30. He is charged in Marion County, Indiana. Shepherd reportedly works for the University of Missouri as a custodian. On March 24, 1993, 19-year-old Carmen Hope Van Huss was found raped and murdered...

MILWAUKEE - A 22-year-old Milwaukee woman is charged with first-degree reckless homicide in the death of a 14-year-old boy near 39th and Vliet. The accused is Zariah Johnson. According to the criminal complaint, Milwaukee police were dispatched to the area near 39th and Vliet on Thursday, Aug. 15. Citizens had gathered and administered two doses of Narcan to the victim, thinking this was an overdose. But once medical personnel arrived on the scene, it was learned the victim had been shot in the back. Five .380 casings were located in the area. A witness to what happened told police the...

A father of two young girls was allegedly shot dead by a neighbor who angrily confronted him after his daughter “touched the mulch” in his yard while the family was on a walk in their suburban Michigan neighborhood. Nathan Morris, 35, was on a walk with his wife and daughters, ages 2 and 5, near their home in Canton just before noon Saturday when police say their neighbor Deveraux Christopher Johnson, 47, confronted him and the two got into an argument, Fox 2 Detroit reported. Johnson was reportedly upset that Morris’ daughter “touched the mulch” on his property, the Michigan...

Indiana native and father of four Paul Schmucker shared his story of overcoming regret and grief after coercing his girlfriend to get an abortion. Paul, now age 42, grew up as one of twelve in a traditional Amish family in Indiana. He had loving parents and a wonderful childhood in the Amish community. At age 16, according to tradition, Paul experienced Rumspringa, a tradition when Amish youth leave the community and immerse themselves in the outside world. This period of Rumspringa grants young Amish men and women the opportunity to decide whether they want to return to their community or...

Police are accusing a 14-year-old girl of stealing a vehicle twice in two days in Buffalo. Authorities tell us the Erie County Sheriff's Air 1 helicopter was used to track a stolen car to Central Park Plaza and Hill Street early Thursday morning. Police arrested the 14-year-old, charging her with unauthorized use of a vehicle. Then on Friday, police say the same 14-year-old, along with four other teenagers, were arrested after Air 1 tracked another stolen car to Hastings Avenue. All five are charged with criminal possession of stolen property.