"if you're in michigan and 18+ pls for the love of god do not vote for my dad for state rep. tell everyone"
Not exactly the winning endorsement a candidate might expect from a family member, let alone one's own daughter.
But that's the tweet posted by Stephanie Regan, whose dad Robert Regan is running for election in Michigan's House of Representatives. Robert Regan is a Republican campaigning for the seat in Michigan's 73rd District, which includes part of the city of Grand Rapids.
The small business owner and author is one of four candidates vying for the seat, which is currently held by Rep. Lynn Afendoulis (R-Grand Rapids) who announced plans to run for Congress during the 2020 election, vacating the seat.
The trio of tweets that Stephanie Regan first published June 23 has reached viral status by the Internet's standards, eclipsing well over 200,000 likes, comments, and retweets.
After confirming her identity with daily dot, several other news outlets picked up the familial disagreement.
"Since so many people are asking it is Robert Regan! Do a quick fb or google search to find info about his campaign. I don’t feel safe rn sharing further information regarding his beliefs, but please look him up and just read for yourself," she commented a day after her first tweet.
On the "Issues" tab of Regan's candidacy page, it lists a number of positions the "serial entrepreneur" advocates for, which includes eventually eliminating social security, making English the official language of Michigan, making attorneys who file unnecessary lawsuits liable, eliminating fluoride and chlorine used to treat drinking water, and outlawing the bottling Great Lakes and Michigan groundwater.
In a statement posted Thursday night on Facebook, Regan said "I am happy that she feels confident enough in our relationship to express her opposing thoughts so publicly. The 1st Amendment is foundational to our republic, which not only requires, but should encourage, all perspectives to be expressed without using guilt, obligation or shame to manipulate people."
In a follow-up interview with The Hill, Regan said he wasn't completely surprised by his daughter's lack-of-support for his views, arguing when students "go off to these liberal university campuses" they get "sucked into this Marxist, communist ideology."
Regan has run for office twice before, coming in 2nd place in the 2014 primary for one of Michigan's most conservative districts.