Hi John, it's Luke Hayes, Jamaal's campaign manager.
I wanted to update you on the racist mailers that our opponent has been sending out and how we are intending to respond. On Monday I emailed you to let you know about the first racist mailer that was sent across the district, where our opponent deliberately darkened Jamaal's skin. Take a look for yourself:
Since Monday, we have learned that our opponent has sent out ANOTHER mailer across the district with the same darkened image of Jamaal. This is proof that our opponent has doubled down on these racist tactics to win this election at all cost.
This tactic is frequently used by GOP campaigns to attack Black Democrats because it has unfortunately shown to be effective. In 2020, the GOP candidates used this vile tactic against Jamie Harrison and Rev. Raphael Warnock in the South Carolina and Georgia Senate elections, respectively. Rev. Warnock still won his election and is now a US Senator but Jaime Harrison lost by a margin much larger than many predicted.
In order to respond to these racist maillers we need to be reaching people with our own mailers highlighting the great work Jamaal has done. But mailers take time to print and mail so our final deadline to raise money that we can spend on mailers for this primary election is tomorrow at midnight.
We got a wakeup call this week from the very narrow victory of our ally and fellow Justice Democrat Ilhan Omar. Even with a strong grassroots canvassing effort, if we are not matching our opponents in every medium they are communicating to voters through — we can lose ground and lose votes.
That is why it is absolutely crucial we do not let Jamaal's progressive message get drowned out by a flood of racist mailers attacking him, and hit our mailer fundraising goal so we can match our opponents outreach through the mail.
Let's do this,
Luke Hayes, Campaign Manager
Bowman for Congress
