Texas voters were stunned that Dave Wilson, a Republican anti-gay activist, was elected for a seat on the Houston Community College Board of Trustees last week. Although it was surprising that he beat out a 24-year incumbent for the seat, it was even more shocking that Wilson won by tricking voters into believing he was black.
According to local CBS affiliate KHOU, Wilson used deceptive campaign techniques to mislead voters in the predominantly black district into thinking that he was an African American candidate. Some of his ploys included sending out campaign material with photos of African American people captioned with the words: "Please vote for our friend and neighbor Dave Wilson."
He also mailed flyers saying that he was "Endorsed by Ron Wilson," which as KHOU points out, could be misconstrued by voters to mean that Wilson was endorsed by former state representative Ron Wilson, an African American. In actuality, the "Ron Wilson" that he was referring to was his own cousin who happens to have the same name.
In addition, Wilson is accused of making sure his own photo was not readily available to voters in order to win the race. Wilson narrowly won the election by a margin of 26 votes, which KHOU says "was almost certainly influenced by his racially tinged campaign."
His opponent, incumbent Bruce Austin, told KHOU that Wilson's tactics were undemocratic.
"I don't think it's good," said Austin. "I don't think it's good for both democracy and the whole concept of fair play. But that was not his intent, apparently."
Austin is calling for a recount, however, experts believe it will not change the outcome of the election, which used electronic voting machines.
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