Democrats call on New Mexico GOP to disavow 'racist' mailer
Sep. 22—Democratic lawmakers and others called on the Republican Party of New Mexico on Thursday to disavow a political mailer they condemned as racist.
The mailer, sent to voters in at least nine competitive House districts, uses a stock photo that was altered to darken the skin tone of the hands of a person who represents a sex offender cutting a boy's hair.
"This doctored ad is a shameful attempt to stoke fear and division," the Rev. Charles E. Becknell, New Mexico president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, said in a statement. "Digitally darkening the skin tone of the person in this ad, while suggesting they are a sexual predator, is blatantly racist and completely inexcusable."
The mailer focuses on a bill dealing with licensing and regulation of barbers and cosmetologists, and accuses Democrats who were targeted by the mailer of voting to "allow convicted sex offenders to receive professional licenses for activities such as cutting hair or working as a nail technician — leaving unsuspecting women and children vulnerable to predators."
The bill, which had bipartisan support, eliminated the term "conviction of a crime involving moral turpitude" as grounds for refusal to issue a license, among other things.
House Majority Leader Javier Martínez, D-Albuquerque, called the attack ad "one of the worst dirty tricks" he's ever seen from a political campaign.
"New Mexicans are too smart to fall for this hateful attempt to scare and mislead voters, but this kind of rhetoric is deeply harmful to our community," he said.
House Republican Whip Rod Montoya, R-Farmington, called the accusation of racism "ridiculous" and "just stupid" and said Democrats were trying to deflect from what he characterized as their soft-on-crime agenda.
Montoya said the stock photo was edited to make the person cutting the boy's hair a shadowy gray figure.
"These progressives in the Legislature just continue to choose the rights of convicted criminals over victims and over public safety," he said. "That's the issue, so they're trying to make this about racism when the person is obviously gray. The hands look more like Gollum from Lord of the Rings."
This is a developing story. Stay tuned for updates.
Follow Daniel J. Chacón on Twitter @danieljchacon.
Follow Daniel J. Chacón on Twitter @danieljchacon.
