Republican candidate Arthur Jones, a Holocaust denier who has been disavowed by his own party, will be the GOP's nominee in a suburban Chicago congressional district after he ran in Tuesday's primary unopposed. 
 
 Jones's campaign website contains a section called "The Holocaust Racket" in which he argues that there is "no proof such a so-called 'Holocaust' ever took place anywhere in Europe against the Jews" and that Jews are "directly responsible for the murder of at least 300 million people." 
 
 Jones in February told the Chicago Sun-Times that he's a former leader of the American Nazi Party. 
 
 He's long been a stain on the Illinois Republican Party, which has successfully blocked his previous congressional bids. The state Republican Party has disavowed his candidacy, with the state party chairman calling him a Nazi. Democrats have similarly blasted Jones and his views. 
 
 Yet because the GOP decided against running any candidate in the heavily Democratic district, and Jones successfully met the criteria to make the ballot, he will be the party's nominee. 
 
 Jones will run against either current Rep. Daniel Lipinski Daniel William LipinskiCruz blasts Holocaust-denying GOP nominee: Vote for a Dem instead The Hill's Morning Report: As Trump talks, his lawyers sweat Pelosi rejects litmus test on abortion MORE (D) or Marie Newman, an advertising executive challenging Lipinski from his left. No matter who wins the Democratic primary, that candidate will be the virtual lock to hold the seat thanks to both the strong Democratic leanings of the district and Jones's record. ||||| Holocaust denier poised to claim GOP nomination in Illinois race for Congress 
 
 Arthur Jones is the only Republican candidate on the primary ballot for the 3rd Congressional District. | Marcus DiPaola/Sun-Times 
 
 Arthur Jones — an outspoken Holocaust denier, activist anti-Semite and white supremacist — is poised to become the Republican nominee for an Illinois congressional seat representing parts of Chicago and nearby suburbs. 
 
 “Well first of all, I’m running for Congress not the chancellor of Germany. All right. To me the Holocaust is what I said it is: It’s an international extortion racket,” Jones told the Chicago Sun-Times. 
 
 Indeed, Jones’ website for his latest congressional run includes a section titled “The ‘Holocaust Racket’” where he calls the genocide carried out by the German Nazi regime and collaborators in other nations “the biggest blackest lie in history.” 
 
 Jones, 70, a retired insurance agent who lives in suburban Lyons, has unsuccessfully run for elected offices in the Chicago area and Milwaukee since the 1970s. 
 
 He ran for Milwaukee mayor in 1976 and 13th Ward alderman on Chicago’s Southwest Side in 1987. 
 
 Since the 1990s to 2016, Jones has jumped in the GOP 3rd Congressional District primary seven times, never even close to becoming a viable contender. 
 
 The outcome will be different for Jones in the Illinois primary on March 20, 2018. 
 
 To Jones’ own amazement, he is the only one on the Republican ballot. 
 
 “And given the fact that I’ve got no opposition in the primary, OK, I win that one (the primary) by default all right,” Jones said during an interview in a coffee shop in Lyons. 
 
 That leaves Illinois Republicans saddled with a nominee who is well known for his racist and white supremacist activities. 
 
 Tim Schneider, chairman of the Illinois Republican Party, said in a statement to the Sun-Times, “The Illinois Republican Party and our country have no place for Nazis like Arthur Jones. We strongly oppose his racist views and his candidacy for any public office, including the 3rd Congressional District.” 
 
 Jones told the Sun-Times he is a former leader of the American Nazi Party and now heads a group called the America First Committee. “Membership in this organization is open to any white American citizen of European, non-Jewish descent,” he said. 
 
 RELATED STORY Illinois GOP exploring ‘options’ to dump GOP Holocaust denier 
 
 The Anti-Defamation League has been keeping tabs on him for years. 
 
 “Arthur Jones, who proudly displays Holocaust denial, xenophobia and racism on his blog and website, has a long history of hateful, extremist and anti-Semitic views,” said Lonnie Nasatir, the regional director of the Anti-Defamation League Chicago-Upper Midwest Region. 
 
 “For example, in 2009, he protested the opening of the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center, and continues to espouse absurd conspiracy theories questioning the deaths of millions of Jews. 
 
 “He has spoken publicly at numerous neo-Nazi rallies and events, expressing xenophobic policies based in racial and religious hatred. He is, by every definition, an anti-Semite and unrepentant bigot.” 
 
 In November, Jones will face either Rep. Dan Lipinski, D-Ill., a Western Springs resident, or Lipinski’s Democratic primary challenger, Marie Newman from La Grange. 
 
 Jones will almost certainly be defeated in November. That’s because the 3rd Congressional District is one of the most heavily Democratic in the state. 
 
 The district sweeps in the old Chicago Democratic machine wards of 11, 13, 14, 19 and 23 and meanders through a corridor to wide swathes of southwest suburban turf. The district was drawn to protect Lipinski, whose father, William — a former congressman — is close to House Speaker Mike Madigan, D-Chicago, who is also the chairman of the Democratic Party of Illinois. 
 
 How did this happen? 
 
 • Republicans didn’t bother to muster a credible candidate because the district is so Democratic. There is always a debate if parties should recruit candidates to run races they are highly likely to lose. 
 
 • Jones could not be knocked off the ballot. 
 
 In 2016, Jones was removed from the 3rd District GOP ballot in legal actions engineered by the Illinois Republican Party. 
 
 Records show that John Fogarty Jr., the general counsel for the Illinois GOP, handled the objections to Jones 2016 nominating petitions filed with the Illinois State Board of Elections. 
 
 Once Jones was removed from the ballot because his petitions were faulty, Lipinski ran unopposed in the 2016 contest. 
 
 By 2018, Jones took his petitions door to door himself and took greater care to have valid signatures. 
 
 An official with the Illinois Republican Party said Fogarty was directed to determine if Jones could be thrown off the 2018 ballot. 
 
 Fogarty examined Jones’ petitions Dec. 5 and Dec. 8. This time around, Jones’ signatures appeared valid, so the Illinois GOP did not pursue legal action. Neither did anyone else. 
 
 Jerry Hurckes, the treasurer for the Lipinski campaign, looked at the petitions on Dec. 4, the records show. 
 
 Tim Mapes, Madigan’s government chief of staff and executive director of the state Democratic party, viewed Jones petitions on Dec. 6. 
 
 In 1998, according to an article in the Chicago Tribune, when Jones was running in the 3rd Congressional District primary, “the Cook County Central Committee passed a resolution . . . formally denouncing his candidacy” concerned that if he was nominated, it would be a “national embarrassment” for Cook County Republicans. 
 
 Last spring in Pikeville, Kentucky, Jones spoke to a National Socialist Movement gathering. The Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups, said it is one of the “most prominent neo-Nazi groups in the United States.” 
 
 In a few weeks, Jones almost certainly will be a GOP nominee. But he doesn’t plan on seeking support from Illinois’ Republican governor — or the Republican president of the United States. 
 
 Jones said in his Pikeville address, according to a video on YouTube, he was sorry he voted for President Donald Trump, who has “surrounded himself with hordes of Jews” including his Jewish son-in-law Jared Kushner. 
 
 As for Gov. Bruce Rauner, also on the March ballot, Jones told the Sun-Times, “I would not lower myself to ask Bruce Rauner to campaign for me or vote for me.” ||||| A west suburban man known as a Holocaust denier and for his ties to neo-Nazism is expected to advance to November’s general election for Illinois’ 3rd Congressional District seat. 
 
 Arthur J. Jones, 70, of Lyons, is the lone candidate on the March 20 Republican primary ticket for the seat that includes Western Springs, La Grange and parts of southwestern Chicago. Jones, a former member of the American National Socialist Workers Party, has run for political office several times in the past but has never made it past the primary stage in the 3rd District. 
 
 Most recently, in 2016, Jones ran unopposed on the Republican ballot but was removed for flagrant disregard of the election code. Jones said his candidacy was challenged by members of the Illinois Republican Party, who questioned the legitimacy of his signatures. 
 
 In 2017, Jones said he went door-to-door stumping for signatures, and after his paperwork was reviewed, Republicans did not attempt to remove him from the ballot. 
 
 “Well, it’s absolutely the best opportunity in my entire political career,” Jones said. “Every time I’ve run it’s been against a Republican who follows this politically correct nonsense. This time they screwed up.” 
 
 Illinois Republican Party Chairman Tim Schneider said in a statement: "The Illinois Republican Party and our country have no place for Nazis like Arthur Jones. We strongly oppose his racist views and his candidacy for any public office, including the 3rd Congressional District." 
 
 Gov. Bruce Rauner released a statement Monday: "There is no room for Neo Nazis in American politics. I condemn this man in the strongest possible terms.” 
 
 The Anti-Defamation League reports Jones has been involved with racist and anti-Semitic groups since the 1970s. 
 
 In 1976, Jones ran for mayor in Milwaukee. He said he appeared in TV commercials dressed as an American storm trooper with slogans billing himself as “the White People’s Candidate.” Jones also said he featured swastikas in a newspaper ad for a candidate he supported for school board in Wisconsin. In the 1970s, he said he marched in Skokie in full Nazi regalia. 
 
 On his campaign website, Jones calls the Holocaust “the biggest, blackest lie in history.” In a phone interview Sunday, he defended concentration camps. 
 
 “The point of the matter is I’m not running for chancellor of Germany,” Jones said. 
 
 On his website, Jones recounts his parents’ service in World War II. 
 
 “My father like so many others fought because he thought it was a service to his country,” Jones said. “If they had seen what was going to happen … (despite) all their sacrifices, he and a lot of others wouldn’t have put their lives on the line.” 
 
 Jones also said he doesn’t support interracial marriage or integration in schools, and he hesitated when asked whether African-Americans and Latinos should have the right to vote. 
 
 “I don’t believe in equality — period,” Jones said. 
 
 The lack of a GOP challenger means Jones will likely face off against Democratic incumbent Rep. Dan Lipinski or challenger Marie Newman on Nov. 6 in the 3rd District, a traditionally Democratic district. 
 
 “I’ll have nine months to campaign for the general election,” Jones said. “I think I have a good chance.” 
 
 tbriscoe@chicagotribune.com 
 
 Twitter @_tonybriscoe 
 
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– "The Republican Party screwed up big time." Such is the pronouncement of Arthur Jones, who on Tuesday won a GOP primary in Illinois, becoming the party's candidate for the Third Congressional District, which encompasses part of Chicago. Except, per the New York Times, the Holocaust denier won't get an ounce of support from the party, which describes Jones as a Nazi and plans to "vehemently [oppose him] with real campaign dollars." As for why the 70-year-old thinks the party messed up, it's because he was running unopposed due to the GOP's inability to recruit a candidate, leading him to remark to the Times that "even if only myself and my wife voted for me, I'd win the primary." The Illinois GOP plans to throw its cash toward an as-yet-unselected independent candidate. As for the Holocaust views Jones espouses, the Hill reports his campaign website actually included a section called "Holocaust?" that refers to "professional concentration camp survivors"; states there is "no proof such a so-called 'Holocaust' ever took place anywhere in Europe"; and says that Jews are "directly responsible for the murder of at least 300 million people." Jones isn't expected to win the solidly blue district, where Rep. Dan Lipinski currently holds the seat. Things on the Democratic side were just as wild, though, with Lipinski narrowly edging out challenger Marie Newman—who was backed by Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand and Bernie Sanders—with 97% of the votes tallied. The Chicago Tribune reported around midnight that Newman refused to concede at that point, saying she "would like Mr. Lipinski to have a very painful evening."