There’s at least one every cycle.
A handful of black Democratic elected officials are expressing outrage over a campaign mailer that appears to have used photos of the politicians without consent to falsely suggest they endorsed a slate of City Council candidates — including two backed by the Harris County Republican Party.
The mailer, circulated by a group called the Harris County Black Democratic News, features photos of former President Barack Obama, U.S. Reps. Sheila Jackson Lee and Al Green, and several state legislators and county officials, along with Mayor Sylvester Turner.
On the other side of the mailer are photos of nine City Council candidates, including Willie Davis and Eric Dick — who are endorsed by the Harris County Republican Party — under the banner text “Endorsement Announcement.” It also purports to endorse Turner and two Harris County Department of Education board candidates.
“I have never been contacted by the Harris County Black Democratic News, nor am I sure that they are a legitimate news or community organization,” said state Rep. Senfronia Thompson, who is pictured on the mailer. “I did not consent to being included in the Harris County Black Democratic News and am appalled that a group would go to this extent to mislead voters.”
The mailer does not disclose which person or political committee funded it, an apparent violation of state law.
Dick, a Harris County Department of Education trustee who is in a runoff for the At-Large, Position 5 seat against former City Council staffer Sallie Alcorn, contributed $8,500 to the Harris County Democratic News in September and October, according to his campaign finance records.
You can see a picture of the mailer, front and back, here. It’s almost admirable in its shamelessness. John Coby has been all over this. The news coverage will of course reach more people than would have ever seen the mailer itself, which is a two-edged sword, as some of them will just remember the images and not the truth about them. The thing about stuff like this is that it’s fundamentally a sign of weakness. No one who is confident in their ability to win needs to claim phony endorsements. This isn’t Eric Dick’s first campaign. He knows what he’s doing and he knows why he’s doing it. I’d say he should be ashamed of himself, but that ship sailed a long time ago.
Why is Eric Dick blamed for this? Because he contributed to the Harris County Democratic News? If the Harris County Democratic News is putting this out, with money from Eric Dick, then the Democrats are just as duplicitous as Eric Dick.
Who can say that one of the other “endorsed” candidates, such as Mayor Turner, isn’t behind this?
The people at the Turner campaign called me! And when I told them that the Democrat party was founded for the purpose of promoting racism, the Klan, segregation, and Jim Crow, they said I was making up a false history! I say, when we knock over Confederate statues, we should also pull down everything with the word Democrat.
There is no such legit entity called the “Harris County Democratic News”; it is a fabrication and not connected to anything having to do with the Harris County Democratic Party. If you’d read the article, you’d see that the likely person behind the mailing hired Eric Dick as his lawyer. He’s just trying to seem bona fide by using the word “Democratic” and including actual Democrats in his mailer. I could do the same by calling myself a Repub and endorsing all Repubs except my buddy the Democrat.
The Democratic Party has existed in some form since Thomas Jefferson. The left-right poles have moved back and forth both within and outside the various parties a number of times.
You’re absolutely right in one regard: that there are things in the Democratic Party’s past that are shameful and need to be addressed. It was the party of the antebellum South for 100 years, mainly because as the GOP evolved into a mostly conservative party in the early 20th century, “Republican” was still a bad word in the South, due to Lincoln, Reconstruction, and long memories.
The difference is that the Democratic Party evolved into a center-left party over time and drove out most of its right wing racists between the mid-60’s and Reagan. LBJ famously said that with the Voting Rights Act of 1964, Democrats would “lose the South for a generation”. You’ll notice that it’s the Democrats who want to erase the white supremacy totems of the South, even though yes, most of the idolized ones had been Democrats. It’s almost like the adjective doesn’t mean the same thing that it used to. For instance, Trump’s favorite president (other than his own reflection) is Andrew Jackson, a Democrat, not someone like Lincoln or Eisenhower, who are good solid Republicans with almost universal acclaim.
Had the same party system we have now existed in the 1860’s, Lincoln would have been a Democrat and the entire south would have been under Republican rule. I guess it’s a conservative thing to believe that something named a thing remains the same for centuries, no matter what.
I think it is way more dishonest to run a news story and not even bother to try to call the actual publisher of the news organization you are calling fake. Houston Chronicle is mad that black people are voting for black people. It is a very racist newspaper that typically endorses the white people.
Head slap.
Notsouh…please tell me how one calls the publisher of an organization that doesn’t exist?
“We (Democrats) have lost the South for a generation.” – Lyndon Johnson, to an aide upon signing the Civil Rights Act in 1964.
As it turns out, he was optimistic.
re: “Who can say that one of the other “endorsed” candidates, such as Mayor Turner, isn’t behind this?”
Jason, this is/your innocuous query is exactly how this silly business is perpetuated – ranks up there with “A lot of people are saying…”, the famous tag line from the current President.
A lot of people believe Obama was born in Kenya…
Some folks are saying Clinton’s running a child brothel out of a pizza place…
Someone told me Ted Cruz’s Dad killed JFK…
Who can say Sylvester Turner ISN’T endorsing Republican candidates…
Jason, we can be sure Mayor Turner would not be behind the fake mailer, because he does not gain any voters by being tied to Willie Davis or Eric Dick.
Moreover, the return mailing address is the same one as the infamous “Houston Church News” which sent out a scurrilous mailer against Judge Theresa Chang falsely accusing her of marrying same sex couples as part of a smear to attack and undermine her among GOP primary voters in 2018. That address is further linked to Paul Philip Bryant, who is Eric Dick’s client and lead plaintiff in the lawsuit brought by Dick challenging the ordinance restricting feeding the homeless in public spaces.
Notsuoh, who is the actual publisher of this so-called “Harris County Democratic News”, if you know? I will be happy to call them. The fact that they are hiding their identify from the public speaks volumes.
Philip Paul Bryant is also the Chairman of the Church of God In Christ PAC, which has endorsed Eric Dick and Willie Davis. The address for that PAC listed with the Texas Ethics Commission is also 1918 Freeman, the same address as the hateful mailer in 2018 and this new mystery publication. QED
I can’t figure out how this flyer is going to help. This sounds like the same tactic Dave Wilson successfully used, to convince black voters that he was actually black. That worked, because he didn’t include a photo of his white self on the flyer. Sounds like Eric Dick used his picture in the ad. Oops. Probably would have been better off just to accuse his competitor of being gay if he wanted the black vote.
Notsuoh – Mainstream wants to kick special needs kids out of HCDE. He is a hard right republican.
Jennifer, you don’t even know me. I have never advocated or even stated a position regarding abolition of HCDE. Where in the hell do you get that idea? I was not even aware HCDE had any role with special needs education. I thought it had something to do with HeadStart programs and bulk purchasing of some sorts of educational products or services for the districts within its territory. No one who does know me (especially within Republican Party circles) would describe me as a hard right Republican, unless in your mind candidates I have supported like Sarah Davis or Will Hurd or Ed Emmett are considered hard right Republicans.
Mainstream, it isn’t very hard to find Harris County Black Democratic News. Open your eyes. Just because you are white doesn’t mean black people have to do stuff for you.
https://www.facebook.com/Harris-County-Black-Democratic-News-108921883926150
Jennifer, my republican friends tell me that mainstream nearly had a stroke when that Dick fellow refused to shut down HCDE. Mainstream now goes around bad mouthing Dick at tea party groups.
Notsuoh, your sources are not reliable. I don’t go to tea party groups. I have never taken a position on shutting down HCDE.
After careful review of the Facebook page you supplied and its links to websites, I still do not see the name of a human being who claims to the president, publisher, or editor of this fake group/publication. Instead, I see photos of former President Barack Obama and lots of other prominent black Democrats, most of whom probably have no idea their likeness and name are being linked to the fake group/publication.
I just got a text from them as well with the same endorsements twice via mail. This is shameful and dishonest.