Flub or strategy? Fort Worth police list wrong candidates on mailer endorsing incumbent
The Fort Worth Police Officers Association has traveled back in time in its endorsement of incumbent council member Jungus Jordan, sending a campaign mailer that listed opponents from the 2019 and 2017 races instead of this year.
The association sent a mailer this week to voters in City Council District 6 that featured a large photo of Jordan below a green banner noting its endorsement. But four of the five people the police association listed as Jordan’s opponents haven’t been on a ballot in two to four years.
Only Jared Williams, a nonprofit leader and science educator, is correctly listed as running for District 6 this year. Tiesa Leggett, vice president of advocacy at the North Texas Commission, is left off the mailer entirely.
Daryl R. Davis Jr., the first name on the mailer under Jordan, ran in 2019 with Rod Smith. Paul E. Hicks and Nicholas St. John ran in 2017.
“We have researched your candidates for Fort Worth City Council and share our findings with you here,” a line at the top of the mailer reads.
Manny Ramirez, president of the Police Officers Association, said the flub was not from a lack of research but a simple mistake, saying “the vendor got the wrong copy.” Ramirez blamed the confusion on having to keep track of a historic number of candidates running for Fort Worth mayor, council and school board as well as the Tarrant Regional Water District.
“It definitely wasn’t any kind of strategy or core underlying motive,” Ramirez told the Star-Telegram.
Jordan, who was first elected in 2005 and is the longest serving council member, did not return a call for comment. A spokesman said Jordan was proud of the police endorsement but noted the mailer did not come from his campaign.
Leggett and Williams both posted about the flyer on social media.
In a Facebook post Monday, Leggett said she believed the mailer was intentionally deceptive and meant to undermine her campaign. She called it “another example of showing our community that Black women’s voices don’t matter.”
“Omitting me was a way to mute me BUT I AM HERE,” she wrote. “This flyer speaks volumes about the exclusionary climate of our community.”
On Twitter, Williams said he was worried voters would be confused by the mailer.
“I’m shocked that they are unable to know who’s actually running for #FWDistrict6,” he wrote.
Ramirez said the association spoke to the vendor and would be correcting the error.
“Ultimately we’re responsible for the products we put out, so this is on me,” he said.
Though about 60% of Fort Worth’s police force live outside of the city limits, the officers association is an influential group that routinely makes endorsements and campaign contributions.
In the race for mayor, the Fort Worth Police Officers’ Association endorsed Mattie Parker, who was the chief of staff for the council for five years. In other council races, the association endorsed incumbents or candidates associated with current council members.
▪ District 2: Carlos Flores, incumbent
▪ District 3: Michael Crain, council member Brian Byrd’s district directer. Byrd is running for mayor
▪ District 4: Cary Moon, incumbent
▪ District 5: Gyna Bivens, incumbent
▪ District 7: Leonard Firestone, endorsed by multiple previous District 7 council members including retiring Councilman Dennis Shingleton.
▪ District 8: Kelly Allen Gray, incumbent.
▪ District 9: No endorsement
This story was originally published April 27, 2021 at 1:28 PM.
