Daniel Cohen said that once the clear underdog in the race for one of Harris County’s most powerful positions, voting rights champion and ethics reformer Ben Chou has gained enough steam to spook the favorite.
Daniel Cohen on the Briones / Chou racist ad
I am still in DC as I am writing this blog. But I have been following my Harris County Texas politics as best as I could via the local newspapers. Harris County Texas is the home of Houston. Most importantly it is a bellwether county, the 3rd largest county in the U.S., and it is a blue county.
I asked Daniel Cohen to visit with Politics Done Right about a recent racist ad in a local Commissioners Court race. Lesley Briones published the following ad against her opponent Ben Chou.
Before the interview, Daniel forwarded an article he wrote on the subject
Lesley Briones, originally the odds-on favorite for Precinct 4 Harris County Commissioner, is in damage control mode after running a racist ad against upstart candidate Ben Chou. Briones’ ad photoshopped Chou against a brick prison wall and doctored his facial features, particularly his eyes and mouth. The backlash was immediate, as voters across various constituencies denounced the advertisement. The fact that it’s AAPI Heritage month has only amplified the issue.
OMG. It’s AAPI Heritage month for god particle’s sake. Vote for *real* inclusive change with @BenChouTX. There is a very good reason why impacted community-led organizations of Black and brown folx endorsed this guy. @OrganizeTexas https://t.co/yVjpBuD9wJ
— Dona Kim Murphey, MD PhD (@dunkindona) May 19, 2022
Many Democrats are concerned that exposing Lesley Briones’ campaigns racist act is infighting we cannot afford. The reality is that there is more harm done if we do not call out Democrats for dramatically falling outside of our value set lest we forget our outrage on George Herbert Walker Bush’s Willie Horton racist attacks.
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