Pelosi, Jeffries condemn misleading flyer
Top Democratic leaders waded into a Bay Area House race after they said voters received flyers that wrongly imply they endorsed the Democratic incumbent’s challenger.
Charlene Nijmeh, chair of the Castro Valley-based Muwekma Ohlone tribe, is running against Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-San Jose, who’s represented the district since 1995.
On Monday, Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., condemned Nijmeh’s use of photos that show them each posing with Nijmeh next to the words “It’s time to pass the torch to the next generation. Imagine what she will get done in office, working for you.”
“We were quite surprised to see that somebody who is running against our colleague and friend Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren had recently sent a campaign brochure with our photos, giving the false impression that she may have our support in this race. That is not true,” Pelosi and Jeffries said in a statement. “Politics can be a messy sport, but it’s pretty disgraceful to use our images to try to mislead voters. We cannot be more clear and enthusiastic in our complete endorsement of Zoe Lofgren.”
Nijmeh said in a statement to the Chronicle that the photos weren’t meant to suggest an endorsement but were “my way of aligning myself with democrats who actually support my tribe as opposed to Zoe Lofgren.”
Early last year, some California lawmakers came into conflict with Nijmeh and the Muwekma tribe after the San Francisco Inquirer — which is operated by a man who has done paid consulting work for Nijmeh — published more than a dozen articles about the tribe’s recognition efforts. During a contentious January 2023 meeting between members of the tribe and members of Congress, lawmakers including Lofgren; Reps. Anna Eshoo, D-Palo Alto; Eric Swalwell, D-Castro Valley; and Ro Khanna, D-Santa Clara, said the website had made false claims about their positions on the tribe’s bid for recognition.
Nijmeh told lawmakers then that the consultant had a right to free speech and that she couldn’t stop him from exercising it. Nijmeh and the consultant each told the Chronicle that the statements and articles on the Inquirer website were accurate.
Another politician said a separate campaign mailer is touting a false endorsement of Nijmeh from her.
Blanca Alvarado, former chair of the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors and vice mayor of San Jose, said she was distressed to learn voters were being told she endorsed Nijmeh. The purported endorsement was made in a print publication meant to look like a newspaper that was received by voters. The publication promotes Nijmeh’s candidacy but doesn’t include any information about who distributed it.
“I did not endorse Charlene Nijmeh. I am a longtime supporter of Zoe Lofgren and the fact that Charlene used my name without authorization is a disaster, is a tragedy. She is not to be believed, period,” Alvarado told the Chronicle on Monday.
Nijmeh said she was not involved with and didn’t authorize the print publication that said Alvarado endorsed her. She said she believes the publication was the work of Matthew Ricchiazzi, the consultant who launched the San Francisco Inquirer. Ricchiazzi could not be reached for comment.
“It is disrespectful to the voters in California’s 18th Congressional District that one of my opponents has chosen to embrace fake news and disinformation and deceive the public about endorsements as part of her campaign,” Lofgren said in a statement to the Chronicle. “I am proud of the overwhelming real endorsements I have earned — I don’t need to lie about them or make them up.”
Nijmeh said in her statement that her campaign “has not put out any literature that is false or misleading. If you are suggesting that my publishing pictures of myself with leading democrats is misleading, then everyone should delete all of their social media pages with any pictures with any politicians.”
Another endorsement being touted by Nijmeh is legitimate, but may run afoul of federal regulations governing nonprofit groups.
Nijmeh’s campaign posted a letter of support Feb. 2 from Tuan Nguyen, chair of the Asian-American National Committee Inc., calling for voters to “join me in supporting and/or voting for Chairwoman Charlene Nijmeh to be the next United States Congresswoman.”
Nguyen confirmed to the Chronicle on Monday that he endorsed Nijmeh. “She is a good friend of mine. So, the endorsement is for myself, not so much the organization. I do this — personally — support candidates, individually, not as an organization.”
The letter was written on letterhead for the Asian-American National Committee, referred to Nguyen as its founder, chairman and CEO several times, includes a stamp of the organization’s logo and has a footer that says, “A National Non-Profit, Non-Partisan 501(c)(3) Federal Tax-Exempt and Bona Fide Organization.”
Nguyen’s organization is registered with the Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. To retain that tax-exempt status, such groups are prohibited from engaging in political activity.