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Egyptian Candidate for Va. House Accuses Incumbent of Sending Racist Mailing

By Matthew Barakat
The Associated Press
Posted on Tuesday September 27, 2005

McLEAN, Va.—An Egyptian-born candidate for the Virginia House of Delegates claimed Tuesday that his opponent is launching a thinly veiled racist attack by telling constituents in a campaign flier that she is “one of our own.”

The color brochure from Del. Vivian Watts, D-Fairfax, who is white, uses the tag line “delegate, community leader and one of our own” with the last four words in italics.

Republican challenger Michael Meunier, who came to northern Virginia from Egypt in 1990, said he has no doubt that the flier is an indirect attack on his heritage.

“To play the race card and to try and drive a wedge between me and white voters is something I’m outraged about and I’m demanding an apology,” Meunier said.

The language in Watts’ flier, he said, is reminiscent of the persecution he faced in Egypt as a Christian in a Muslim nation.

Watts said in a telephone interview Tuesday that the phrase is simply meant to highlight three decades of community service and that she has used similar wording in past campaigns against white opponents.

“It’s just saying that all politics is local, and it’s a reference to how long I’ve been active in the community,” she said.

Watts, who was first elected to the House of Delegates in 1981, said her record of civic involvement stands in contrast to her opponent’s.

“Until he ran for office, I’d never met him,” Watts said.

Meunier said he believes Watts is trying to win back constituents who are upset that she has opposed efforts to curb the rights of illegal immigrants, including opposition to legislation that would have prohibited illegal immigrants from enrolling in Virginia’s public colleges and universities.

Meunier said he supports a tough stance against illegal immigration, supporting a ban on college enrollment and opposing the use of taxpayer funding to assist day laborers in finding a job. His views, he said, are popular in Watts’ district, which includes Annandale and Springfield and has a high percentage of legal immigrants.

Mark Bergman, a spokesman for the Virginia Democratic Party, defended Watts.

“This is just a desperate attack from a desperate campaign that is not connecting with the voters,” Bergman said.

Republican Party of Virginia Chairwoman Kate Obenshain Griffin called on the Democratic Party to denounce the “reprehensible tactic to try and divide Northern Virginians along racial lines.”

“The failure of the Democrat Party to do so will only be viewed as an explicit endorsement of these discriminatory beliefs,” Griffin said in a statement released Tuesday evening.

Christine Nazer, a spokeswoman for the Arab American Institute, also declined to criticize Watts, who on Sunday attended a candidate forum sponsored by the advocacy group.

“We don’t have any reason to believe her statement is directed at Arab Americans or is racist,” she said.