Here’s the story:
http://gawker.com/white-republican-wins-election-by-convincing-voters-he-1462172659
On the one hand, this is scummy as hell. On the other hand I have to admire his ballsiness, especially when it comes to this bit:
And ultimately the voters themselves deserve a great deal of blame here. Yeah, it’s a pretty minor race - trustee for the local community college. But come on, do your research.
Does he also dress in baggy clothes and listen to rap?
Hmm. I wonder if some legal challenge might be filed. (Of course one will be–I mean whether it might have any chance of success.)
But yeah, stones like twelve-pound brass cannonballs on that dude.
If the people whose images he used find out, they’d probably have pretty good grounds for a complaint. As might Ron Wilson, if the mailers didn’t make clear that he wasn’t the guy doing the actual endorsing.
“But in the mailer’s fine print Wilson noted that “Ron Wilson” was his cousin.”
How big should “fine print” be to be “clear”?
This incident demonstrates, pretty definitively, race-based voting of black voters.
Upon what basis? Race may modulate political viewpoints without becoming the basis for a change in opinion based upon race itself.
Without further identifying “Ron Wilson,” which, ISTM, further reinforces the intended impression that Dave Wilson is black.
In Houston Community College Board of Trustees District 2, perhaps. So it’s possible that people here were voting for a dumb reason - then again I’m not sure how high-profile or public these campaigns are in the first place. This is also a very sleazy campaign tactic, but if it’s a tacit acknowledgment that black people should be allowed to vote, it’s an improvement.
Right; someone who read the fine print might think “Hey, this guy is related to that other politician I like”. At least, if that’s all the fine print said-- I don’t know.
I applaud you, sir, for having the bravery to make a slanderous judgment about millions of Americans whom you’ve never met based on a single small local election. Bravo, sir.
But it’s perfectly acceptable because Terr is always quick to acknowledge that the actions of a few conservatives reflect definitively on conservatives everywhere.
how so? If the voters (mistakenly) believed both candidates were African-American, why does the fact that this one won demonstrate race-based voting?
The first part, about showing images of random black people saying, “Please vote for our friend and neighbor Dave Wilson,” is clearly fraud. I’m guessing if challenged in court, Wilson will say that the faces and quote are two separate things, and if people think they go together, it’s their misinterpretation and not his fault. But a judge with half a brain will see through that.
However, there is something that bothers me about the fact that it was assumed that because there were black people apparently endorsing this guy then he must be black. Black people can’t be friends with or endorse a white guy? Sounds…well, maybe not racist, but…
The second one about Ron Wilson might be a little trickier to prove fraud, but combined with the fraudulent images, I think the intent to deceive is clear.
I doubt there’s any basis for challenging this in court. Maybe there’s a procedure for removing him, but I wouldn’t know. In the meantime I’m sure this troll is going to enjoy a very productive working relationship with his colleagues and have fun running for re-election in 2019.
Can anyone find the total number of votes cast? All the news articles say “a razor thin margin of 26 votes,” but this is the “Houston Community College Board of Trustees” we’re talking about. I imagine he could win by 26 votes just by being first on the ballot.
On the basis of them voting for the guy because they thought he was black.
Is there any evidence that any voters assumed that? It could just be “Well, this guy (whatever his own race may be) has black friends who are endorsing him, so I guess he’s not racist”. And “voting for a guy because he’s not racist” could be a very important criterion for black voters, especially in Texas.
Well yes, did I need to specify that? Ok. In that district, it demonstrates that black voters vote on the basis of the race of the candidate.
Lest those of you who see my location and think I voted for this guy, let me assure you… I’m pretty sure I didn’t.
But I can’t claim to be a saint when it came to my decision on how I voted for these local races. I literally just looked up whoever the HGLBT endorsed for each race and voted for them on the shaky pretense that if HGLBT endorsed them, they were probably ok candidates, even if their position would give them no power over LGBT issues whatsoever.
Honestly there is just so little information for these local positions and so little coverage, endorsements by groups, caucuses, newspapers, and other politicians are all I have to go on. I suppose I could just not vote at all though.
How do other people vote on positions like this, where so little info is available on each candidate?
Well, it’s kinda hard to find hard evidence 
But his opponent apparently thought so.
Austin tried to answer the mailer with his own fliers showing Wilson’s face, calling him a “right-wing hate monger” and saying he “advocated bringing back chain gangs to clean highways.”
Wilson, who is white, deliberately did not have pictures of himself on his campaign website and his campaign materials, said Austin, who is black.
“He never put out to voters that he was white,” Austin said. “The problem is his picture was not in the League of Voters (pamphlet) or anywhere. This is one of the few times a white guy has pretended to be black guy and fooled black people.”