Mistake or not, police mailer in Fort Worth council race slighted Black candidate
It took a while, but negative campaigning in Saturday’s Fort Worth municipal elections is off and running.
If you’re going to ding another candidate, though, it’s best to focus on those who are actually on the ballot.
In Fort Worth City Council District 6, a mailer to voters included several past opponents of longtime incumbent Jungus Jordan. The hit piece, sent by the Fort Worth Police Officers Association’s political committee, which backs Jordan, featured four candidates from 2017 and 2019 and one of Jordan’s current challengers.
A second challenger, Tiesa Leggett, was left off entirely. Many see that as disrespectful, a way to erase a candidate who might stand out as the only woman in the field — and a Black candidate at a time when representation is an increasingly important issue in politics.
“Omitting me was a way to mute me BUT I AM HERE,” Leggett wrote on Facebook. “This flyer speaks volumes about the exclusionary climate of our community. But to know this came from the police? Law enforcement, who we are told to trust, are being misleading and undermining my platform that is focused on building trustworthy relationships with the police to create compassionate communities.”
Police association president Manny Ramirez took responsibility for what he called an innocent mistake. Ramirez said that a company the political committee has used for years to create mailers mixed up the list of candidates, and no one in his group caught it.
“The person who puts them together isn’t necessarily the person on the ground,” he said. No slight was intended, Ramirez said, but he acknowledged that it was “not a good look at all.”
Jordan said he had “absolutely no knowledge” of the mailer before it went out.
“When I saw it is when I got it in my mailbox at my house,” he said. The councilman added that he hoped the misinformation “has no bearing on the race.”
One could argue that Leggett caught a break by not being included in the police group’s criticism. But Leggett, a government relations professional, deserves better than to be ignored. She’s a serious, accomplished candidate, and while we think Jordan is the better choice for the district now, both Leggett and fellow challenger Jared Williams, an educator and nonprofit leader, may have bright futures in Fort Worth politics.
Ugliness is increasing in the final days of many local campaigns, and race is at the center of much of it. In Colleyville, that includes a despicable incident in which a local tea party activist apparently shouted “white power” at an Asian American candidate for City Council, Amyn Gilani. Whether a sick joke or a true expression of white supremacist beliefs, it’s disgusting, and every candidate and elected official in Colleyville should condemn it.
To be clear, the police association mailer isn’t in the same category, not even close. But players in the political arena have a responsibility to tell the truth, base their arguments on facts and show a minimum level of respect to the other side. The police association is a powerful force in Fort Worth municipal politics, and it has an obligation to shoot straight.
Confusing the voters is no way to win.
