Campaign mailer sent by SJ City Council candidate called racist by opponent
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- The race for a west San Jose District City Council seat has prompted a long-time state legislator to apologize over comments made in a campaign email. A solicitation from assembly member Paul Fong incorrectly stated a consultant for his opponent was a member of the Palestinian Liberation Organization.
San Jose City Council candidate Charles "Chappie" Jones said he first saw the email Saturday morning. The email was sent out by his opponent for a city council seat, Paul Fong and it referred to a Jones Campaign Consultant named Victor Ajlouny.
The furor has been over this statement: "Ajlouny is a top Republican consultant and Palestinian activist, who served as a high-ranking member of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO)."
"It's definitely divisive," Jones said. "It is definitely racist. And to be honest with you, it's somewhat bizarre. I don't understand exactly what he was trying to accomplish."
Fong campaign manager Dennis Chiu says he wrote the email in an appeal to donors for contributions after the Jones campaign sent out an email pointing out that Fong moved from Cupertino to San Jose to run for the council seat.
"It was my mistake," Chiu said. "I should not have placed that in the mailer."
Ajlouny said over the phone that no apology can make up for bringing race into the campaign.
"I need to educate myself as to the community and how it affected it," Chui said. "I apologized personally over the telephone to Mr. Ajlouny."
Chiu also apologized to the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)in San Jose.
"I think this makes not only this campaign but other campaigns aware that they do need to be concerned about sensitive issues such as race," said Sameena Usman, a spokesperson for
"I definitely believe this is a case of human error, and I believe this was done on the part of the campaign office, not from Assemblyman Fong."
The NAACP San Jose chapter and Mayor Chuck Reed both condemned the Fong email.
