The campaign of a House Democratic candidate from Michigan darkened the skin color of his black Republican opponent in public requests for donations, earning a swift denunciation from the lower chamber’s GOP campaign arm.
Carl Marlinga, who is running to flip Michigan’s 10th Congressional District, posted a black-and-white picture of Rep. John James on X that made James’ skin appear darker than it is — next to an image of Marlinga in full color.
“In 2022, we came less than 2,000 votes away from flipping Michigan’s 10th blue. No one saw it coming,” Marlinga said as part of a pitch that linked back to his ActBlue page, which features the same darkened image of James.
“In 2024, we will finish the job. Michiganders deserve it. Join us,” he added, including a headline from the nonpartisan Cook Political Report that calls the contest with James “the third-closest House race in the country.”
The National Republican Congressional Committee slammed the campaign’s decision to alter the photo in a statement to The Post — and called on Marlinga to return any donations gained from the effort.
“Carl Marlinga is showing us his true character and it’s abhorrent,” NRCC spokesman Mike Marinella said. “He should apologize and refund the money he raised on this despicable effort.”
Marlinga’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Campaign mailers and donation pages are have been subject to controversy in the past for their provocative or ethnically charged depictions of candidates.
In November, now-ousted Rep. George Santos (R-NY) accused his GOP colleagues of distributing flyers that showed one of his potential Democratic opponents, who is Jewish, with an enlarged nose.
“These images are abhorrent propaganda like images used by the nazis [sic],” the 35-year-old then-congressman said at the time, denouncing the Nassau County Republican Party for signing off on the images of House Democratic candidate Josh Lafazan grinning and grabbing fistfuls of cash.
Far-left Bronx and Westchester Rep. Jamaal Bowman during his 2022 campaign also accused his Republican opponent of artificially darkening a campaign photo of him.
“To be black in America is to deal with multiple forms of racism on a consistent basis. This is one of them,” Bowman said in a statement at the time. “There is an ugly history behind facial distortion to spread hate and disdain for political purposes.”
Marlinga’s donation page also calls James “too extreme for Michigan,” referring to the Republican’s remarks about abortion during his previous runs for the US Senate, a key issue for Democrats since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022.
James defeated Marlinga that year by 1,600 votes after unsuccessful bids to unseat Sens. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and Gary Peters (D-Mich.) in 2018 and 2020, respectively.
Michigan’s 10th district hasn’t been represented by a Democrat since 2003, when former Rep. David Bonior retired from office, and remains one of several seats that the party hopes to flip in 2024 to regain control of the House majority.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has amplified comments James made during campaign events in those races, including one claim that the Roe decision had paved the way for “genocide,” MLive.com reported.
Marlinga has also attacked James for being “out of step” with his constituents on the issue.
A former state judge, Marlinga was charged with bribery in 2004 for allegedly helping a defendant secure a new trial on a rape accusation in exchange for contributions to his 2002 congressional campaign.
A federal grand jury acquitted him in 2006 of all corruption charges.
James, a nondenominational Christian, has defended his position as “100% pro-life” but is focusing his 2024 campaign on the success of his first term in Congress delivering federal funding for local infrastructure projects.
“This is what happens when you put a combat veteran and a former businessman in Washington,” he said in an October campaign video, “to cut through the BS and to say ‘no excuses’ because the people at home are counting on me.”
