Virginia Republican U.S. Senate candidate Corey Stewart accepted assistance in his failed 2017 gubernatorial campaign from members of the League of the South, a white supremacist group that has a paramilitary unit. 

A campaign finance report indicates that an in-kind contribution of $474.71 was received on April 12, 2017 from George Randall. The report does not explain what that in-kind contribution consisted of, but George Randall and his brother Gregory Randall frequently attended Stewart’s events around Virginia and appeared to act in a role consistent with providing a personal security detail for Stewart.

In a 2015 Facebook post, Gregory Randall indicated he was a member of the League of the South. George Randall was seen and photographed at the deadly Unite the Right white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August 2017 wearing an a League of the South patch and standing among members of the League of the South. George Randall received an award signed by Michael Hill, the head of the League of the South, while he was assisting Stewart’s campaign.

George Randall’s wife, Donna Randall, received a $50 payment on April 19, 2017, from the Stewart campaign for work described in the report as “fieldwork consulting.” Stewart’s reports frequently describe paid work by various staffers using the same term.

All three Randalls appeared at many Stewart events, including a visit to Charlottesville in which Stewart conducted a joint press conference with Jason Kessler, a virulently anti-Semitic white supremacist who later organized the Unite the Right rally.

Gregory and George Randall were frequently seen within arm’s reach of Stewart, often with a hand on his shoulder as he moved through a crowd. George and Donna Randall’s son, David Randall, posted a racist screed on Facebook in which he wrote, “i would shoot a nigger deadfor chasing after my daughter no matter how mannerfull he might be… [sic].”

Stewart, a longtime chairman of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors who is challenging Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) in November’s midterms, fashions himself as a neo-confederate. He said Paul Nehlen, a congressional candidate from Wisconsin who describes himself as “pro-white,” is “one of my personal heroes,” the Washington Post reports. Stewart later tried to distance himself from Kessler and Nehlen, according to the New York Times. 

Stewart has seemingly earned the endorsement of President Trump, who declared on Twitter that voters shouldn’t “underestimate” Stewart and that the GOP candidate has “a major chance of winning” in November. Stewart, like Trump, equivocated in his condemnation of white supremacist violence at the Charlottesville hate rally. 

The League of the South advocates for secession of Southern states from the United States and the formation of a white supremacist government. The organization began in 1994 as a group primarily of southern college professors who celebrated southern history while officially rejecting racism. Their leaders became more radical and many original members denounced the direction the group was taking. League of the South formed a paramilitary unit in 2014, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. 

League of the South has appeared at joint rallies with other hate groups, including the National Socialist Movement, a neo-Nazi party.