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ICYMI: Speaker Scott, Senator Locke Address MAGA-Linked Mailers Targeting Black Voters
Richmond, Va. — Speaker Don Scott and Senate Democratic Caucus Chair Mamie Locke today held a press conference addressing offensive and misleading mailers sent to Black voters by a MAGA-aligned group opposing Virginia’s redistricting referendum. The mailers misuse imagery from the civil rights movement and invoke the history of Jim Crow in an apparent attempt to frighten voters into opposing the measure.
“The Civil Rights Movement is not a prop for anonymous MAGA political operatives trying to deceive our communities,” Speaker Scott said. “[The NO campaign] created an organization so they could send these mailers aimed at one segment of the population — the people they think they can manipulate with race. Donald Trump and Republican legislatures across the country are trying to rig the midterm elections because they know their policies are so unpopular. But Virginians still have the power. They can go vote and have the final say.”
Senator Mamie Locke, Chair of the Senate Majority Caucus, called the mailers “deeply offensive and deceptive” and said “this scheme is shameful.”
“A MAGA-linked group opposing the referendum is sending mailers to Black voters that misuse hurtful imagery from the Civil Rights Movement and even invoke Jim Crow, weaponizing one of the darkest chapters in our history to scare people into voting no,” Senator Locke said. “The same MAGA Republicans pushing redistricting maps to tilt the 2026 midterms in states like Texas and Florida are now exploiting that history here in Virginia.”
Early voting for the referendum started March 6 and ends April 18. Election Day is April 21. Virginians can find their voting information at iwillvote.com.