Mayoral candidate Paul Smith and his wife, Moira,
a council candidate, at a tea party rally.

Here is a portion of my latest column for Deadline Detroit:

With local elections just three weeks away in the city of Sterling Heights, an ugly campaign reaches its crescendo as a slate of tea party-style candidates lashes out against a wide array of city residents: Muslims, gays, immigrants, Millennials and even the police and firefighters.
This group of hard-liners seeking to oust the seven city council incumbents in Michigan’s fourth-largest community is led by former councilman Paul Smith, a candidate for mayor who once drew the attention of the Secret Service by displaying a protest sign at a tea party rally in Troy in  2009 that depicted a beheaded President Obama, his bloody skull impaled on a spear.
 
The November election comes on the heels of a nasty political fight over a mosque proposed for a Sterling Heights neighborhood that shook the city to its core, sparking anti-Muslim demonstrations near the site and xenophobic declarations at raucous city council meetings.
Homophobic, Islamophobic, racist – all these tags have been attached to the opposition slate by critics. Yet, nothing can be taken for granted when voters head to the ballot box on Nov. 3.
 
A new poll commissioned by Mayor Michael Taylor found that nearly half of Sterling Heights voters say they have a “neutral” opinion of Smith, and another 22 percent harbor a “very” or “somewhat” favorable view of the mayoral challenger.
Yet, neutral is not a word that would credibly describe this incendiary election campaign.
Smith and his wife, Moira Smith, a council candidate who launched into a tirade during audience participation at a council meeting earlier this year, refer to Latino immigrants as “wetbacks” and gays as “fags.”

Another member of the Smith slate, Joe Judnick, runs campaign ads vowing that he will move beyond local issues to “restore Christian values” in the city.
Judnick also created a firestorm in June with a provocative remark amid national attention to police shootings of unarmed minorities. The candidate advised city police officer who face aggressive blacks: “When there is any doubt, shoot!”

To continue reading, click here.
 

Recent Posts: