Democratic Challenger: Congresswoman is playing the race card

A progressive Democratic challenger is warning Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman not to make the primary campaign about race.

Democrat Lisa McCormick told the lawmaker to restrain supporters who are inciting racial tensions, race-baiting and harassing African Americans who have endorsed her candidacy.

McCormick issued a stern message to Watson Coleman, the first African American woman elected to Congress from New Jersey, saying that the son-in-law of the Congresswoman's brother engaged in racially charged harassment against Trenton Councilwoman Robin Vaughn, after the city official posted her endorsement for McCormick on Facebook.

"As citizens all over America are working to bring people together, Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman is tearing us apart," said McCormick. "I won't tolerate racial intimidation or attempts to isolate citizens who exert their right to vote for any candidate of they choose."

Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman's nephew, Al Spivey, Jr., inappropriately questioned a Trenton councilwoman who expressed support for Lisa McCormick on Facebook.

Al Spivey, Jr., whose father-in-law is Bill Watson, the brother of Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman, inappropriately questioned Vaughn, the Trenton West Ward councilwoman, in an exchange on Facebook.

Spivey asked Vaughn why she was not supporting the "Black Woman" despite a history of personal animosity and political conflicts between the Councilwoman and the Congresswoman.

McCormick also accused the powerful incumbent of distorting the facts to create ethnic strife and confuse voters about controversial issues.

When an anonymous email was sent to voters informing them that Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman defended a movement that is saying: “Don’t buy from Jews” the lawmaker engaged in distortion, saying the message was 'antisemitic' instead of explaining why she opposed a congressional resolution last year that condemned antisemitism.

"While it's easy to attack a hard-hitting message, even a congresswoman should not be allowed to turn the truth on its head," said McCormick. "Bonnie Watson Coleman voted to defend a movement that seeks to harm Israel, and if telling people about that is anything, it is not antisemitic."

McCormick said she distributed cards to voters quoting a number of prominent community leaders, including two Middlesex County mayors, who accused Bonnie Watson Coleman of antisemitism.

Lisa McCormick (r) says the congresswoman is getting out of line with overtly racist tactics that threaten the integrity of the election process and constitute morally repugnant behavior.

"I know that the congresswoman has a terrible record and she wants to keep her job, but she must stop calling me a liar while engaging in falsehoods and restrain her staff from spreading the most callous lies," said McCormick.

McCormick said she was told that James Gee, her opponent's chief of staff, has been spreading rumors that the challenger would not hire black people despite having employed African Americans in her business and supporting a diverse selection of candidates as a public figure.

"I have enjoyed relationships with African Americans socially, in my business and throughout my activities in politics," said McCormick. "When I ran for Union County Clerk in 2010, my black running mates included Rev. Charles Mitchell for sheriff, Janet Reynolds for freeholder, Derek Armstead for mayor in Linden, Renee Thrash for mayor in Rahway, and seven council candidates in various towns. Of the 24 people on my team, we had eleven African American candidates and ten Hispanic contenders."

"I am committed to racial justice but over the 22 years that Bonnie Watson Coleman has been in power, New Jersey has remained the most racially segregated state in the nation, the state with the greatest black-white ratios for incarceration (12:1) and wealth (60:1), and the state where police bother to solve the fewest crimes in communities predominantly populated by people of color," said McCormick. "I believe Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman has sought to quiet the Black Lives Matter movement more than she has sought justice for the victims of racism in our society. I may never be able to experience an African American life, but I feel outrage at the bigotry and injustice I see around us and I know that Bonnie Watson Coleman has accomplished nothing to fix it."

"We had no progress with Bonnie Watson Coleman on racial justice, political reform, climate change or gun violence, despite all her good intentions and long tenure in positions of power. She has a long wish list, but what has she accomplished? As a member of the powerful House Appropriations Committee, Bonnie Watson Coleman brings home 74 cents of every dollar New Jersey residents send to Washington, DC," said McCormick. "After all these years in power, she should talk about something other than the color of her skin."

"This long list of failures may be hard to defend, but that is no excuse for Bonnie Watson Coleman to engage in race-baiting, ethnic division or voter intimidation and I demand that she knock it off immediately, or I promise severe repercussions," said McCormick. "It is not only morally repugnant to employ these tactics, but it is politically stupid because the district is roughly 20 percent Black, 20 percent Hispanic, 10 percent Asian and 50 percent White. For someone who professes to be Christian, Bonnie Watson Coleman is not supposed to bear false witness."