The NAACP Virginia State Conference held a press conference on Wednesday morning to push back against misleading mailers being sent to voters about the redistricting referendum.
“The images that you were seeing on these false mailers and some that are appearing online evoke memories of a time that create anxiety, especially for the African American population in the commonwealth of Virginia,” said Rev. Cozy Bailey, president of the NAACP Virginia State Conference.
One of the mailers in question shows former President Barack Obama opposing redistricting, but the quote is from 2020.
The Democracy and Justice PAC sponsored the misleading Obama mailer along with past mailers that compared the redistricting proposal to Jim Crow policies.
Trump donor and tech mogul Peter Thiel is associated with the organization that funded the Democracy and Justice PAC, which gave it $2.5 million this week, according to financial records.
“He is part of the same mega-donor network that has been funding the agenda of our president and vice president, both of whom are fighting to suppress the vote of Black people,” Bailey said of Thiel.
Other Democratic leaders have been calling out Thiel for funding the group.
“As the first Black Speaker in Virginia’s history, I don’t take this lightly,” Speaker Don Scott, D-Portsmouth, said in a press release. “Our elections belong to the people – not out-of-state tech billionaires using cheap tricks to manipulate voters.”
Democrats are not entirely innocent in the misleading-ad battle.
Page County Democratic Committee advertised on a billboard featuring President Donald Trump, giving the impression that he wants voters to support the referendum.
Republicans are pushing back on Democrats by accusing them of misleading voters with the referendum ballot language, which states it will “allow the General Assembly to temporarily adopt new congressional districts to restore fairness in the upcoming elections.”
“The single most misleading thing about this vote is the ballot language,” said House Republican Leader Terry Kilgore. “Promising to ‘restore fairness’ is not neutral framing. Complaining about someone quoting President Obama or even Governor Spanberger accurately? Glass houses and all that.”
The special election on the referendum is taking place on April 21. Early voting has already started.