Mailer concerns community leaders

Black clergy, others say political flyer misleads

A campaign advertisement mailed to voters and distributed at community events that contains endorsements for a slew of candidates in the Aug. 18 primary and nonpartisan elections is drawing concerns from Black community leaders in Broward County.

Some Black leaders are warning the community about the mysterious “Black Community Voters Guide.”

“It was misleading,” said the Rev. Derrick Hughes, senior pastor of the Black megachurch First Baptist Piney Grove in Lauderdale Lakes, whose congregation numbers about 4,000. He later referred to it as “the fraudulent card.”

Hughes said the guide wasn’t vetted through community leaders. “Someone was paid and was soliciting funds to be part of that card,” Hughes said. “That has become more of a profit asset for someone as opposed to the community’s pulse.”

Hughes also issued a warning on his personal Facebook page. “NOT APPROVED BY OUR COMMUNITY. THIS IS NOT IN OUR INTEREST!!! Several names who’ve been elected and served for years are not on here,” Hughes wrote.

He posted an image of the campaign ad — with the word “fraudulent” superimposed on each side.

Hughes said Bless Broward, made up of clergy from throughout the county, has extensively vetted candidates and will put out its endorsement list by the end of the week. Unlike the voter guide, which was mailed to an unknown number of households, the Bless Broward en

dorsements will primarily media.

County Commissioner Barbara Sharief and School Board member Rosalind Osgood also took to Facebook to warn people away from the campaign ad.

“Mailers like these deceive the voters and contribute to losing elections. While I like many of the candidates on these cards, at first glance it would appear they came from a legitimate organization but they are not,” Sharief wrote in a post. “People, do your homework know who you are voting for and why.”

Sattayah Chang, chairman of the People of Principle political action committee, rejected the criticism.

At a time when “a white supremacist president leads a campaign of hate, intolerance, deadly racist violence, and voter suppression that threatens to undo many of the hard-fought gains of the civil rights movement” and Black people are demonstrating for change, the message of the mailer is that Black voters matter, Chang said via email.

“I am distressed that some of the local candidates for office have chosen to counter that message. But I can’t say that I’m surprised. The desire by some in Broward County to suppress political voices and votes in the Black community is alive and well, and further validates our reason to produce the slate card,” he said.

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Witherspoon, who had considered running for Osgood’s School Board seat, warned voters to “be totally aware of who you’re voting for because all of these people do not have the right agendas at heart. They are set out to promote one group of people that look like us. And that is very dangerous for us all! Pay attention!”

Chang suggested the critics “hate the ability of others to engage in constitutionally protected speech” and “why they think so little of Black people as to think they can be tricked into voting one way or the other.”

The glossy, four-color card, shows pictures and the offices sought by 18 candidates in the August contests.

Of the 18, four are white and 14 are Black. The reverse side includes a long list of names and offices. It makes recommendations in a total of 20 races on the Aug. 18 ballot. In eight others, it lists names of all the candidates with no choice.

Other than the pictures, there’s almost no messaging except for four hashtags: #BlackPride, #BVM, #Vote, and #Together.

Besides members of Congress, the most prominent picture on the card is County Commissioner Dale Holness, who has an almost-invisible challenger in the Aug. 18 primary, making him virtually assured of winning.

Holness, who is serving a term as county mayor, said he was “supportive of that piece. I think it captures some good people.” Asked if he was behind the ad, he said, “I support the effort.”

The provenance of the mailer isn’t clear. As is typical of many political ads, a line in tiny type said it was paid for by “People of Principle PAC.” It was mailed via a Fort Lauderdale postage permit.

Neither the Broward Supervisor of Elections Office website nor the Florida Division of Elections Office website show anything related to People of Principle. The Federal Election Commission shows a “People of Principle” PAC filed a statement of organization — using a Margate UPS Store as its address — in January 2019.

Since then it hasn’t reported raising or spending money, but the FEC has sent warnings to that address over its failure to file reports. Earlier this month, it sent another letter, that the “Commission intends to administratively terminate your committee.”

Chang said the PAC didn’t engage in activity until July, it won’t have to report on its finances until the next FEC report is due in October. He said it would be “imprudent to comment on expenditures or contributions” before then.

Hughes said he thinks he knows who was behind the guide, but declined to name names. “I don’t want it to appear as if we’re fighting in the community.”

As for how he votes in Bless Broward endorsement sessions, Hughes said, “I’m on nobody’s payroll. No one pays me for endorsements.”