Larry Pratt ( link to short Southern Poverty Law Center writeup ) - with whom Ken Blackwell is launching the three day Ohio bus campaign tour that Cinncinati.com reports will culminate "with a "Cowboy Shoot" at the Tusco Rifle Club on Midvale Mine Road in Dennison, a little town in Tuscarawas County" - has a history of association with White Supremacist, militia, and Christian Identity groups ( see bio, "militia man", approx. 1/2 way down page ). Pratt has appeared at a number of rallies held by such groups ( link to detailed report from Rick Ross on a 1992 rally Pratt spoke at ) and, indeed, is credited as being a key figure in inspiring the rise of the militia movement, during the 1990's. Larry Pratt's Gun Owners Of America organization has given money to a white supremacist attorney's group and Pratt also has served as a contributing editor for a newsletter put out by the antisemitic group "United Sovereigns Of America"

Is Larry Pratt a racist or an antisemite ? There appear to be no statements on record that would directly indicate he holds such views, and his wife ( with whom he has had several children ) is, as the Akron Beacon Journal notes, a central American native.

Pratt, however, has previously been considered so far out on the political fringe that direct political association with him has in the past proved scandalous even for politicians considered to be on the far right such as Pat Buchanan and John Ashcroft. Pratt stepped down from his role as co-chairman of Buchanan's 1996 Presidential Campaign bid when media reports called attention to Pratt's past associations with White Supremacist and militia groups. As Pratt explained in defense of his associations with such groups, "We don't prioritize allies, we prioritize positions, and we're willing to go anywhere and work with anyone for our issues." But, those ties nonetheless were still toxic enough in 2001 to produce another minor scandal in the form of a January 11, 2001 Time Magazine story on a 1998 letter from John Ashcroft to Pratt with the following headline ( main title in bold ) : "John Ashcroft's Dubious Pen Pal: Three years ago, attorney general nominee John Ashcroft wrote a friendly note to the leader of an extremist gun-owners organization who is linked to racist groups."