The Georgia Democratic Party is invoking the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. to try to motivate African American voters to the polls.
{mosads}The party sent out a mailer targeted at black voters that raises the specter of the killing and suggesting it happened because low African American voting turnout left control of Ferguson’s government in the hands of a white minority.
“If you want to prevent another Ferguson in their future, vote,” the mailer reads over photos from Ferguson and young African American children holding signs that say “don’t shoot.”
“On August 9, 2014, an unarmed 18-year-old African American named Michael Brown was fatally shot six times and killed by a white police officer, his body left in a pool of blood in the street for four hours,” the mailer continues.
“Ferguson, Missouri’s population is 67 percent African American. But the city’s mayor, 5 of its 6 city council members, and 94 percent of its police force are white. What are we going to do about it? If we want a better, safer future for our children, it’s up to us to vote for change. The choices may not always be perfect, but the cost of inaction is simply too great.”
Georgia Democrats need a huge turnout from the state’s black population in order for former charity executive Michelle Nunn (D) to defeat businessman David Perdue (R) in a hotly contested Senate race. Separately, Democrats are hoping Georgia state Sen. Jason Carter (D) can defeat Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal (R).
The mail piece was first reported on by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.