Op-ed: We should call out those responsible for harmful attack ads

There are just days left in another historic national election defined by hostility, division, and violent rhetoric.

Against this backdrop, many people in our local community have long hoped that we can be better than what we see on the national stage. Unfortunately, this has not proven to be true. While there are candidates and organizations of various political perspectives that participate in our elections fairly and graciously, two organizations in particular consistently bring what could be a civil debate among candidates for public office down into the mud — the Silicon Valley Biz PAC (Biz PAC) and the Santa Clara County Association of REALTORS (SCCAOR).

In the past several elections, these business PACs have reared their heads to spend the money of often mysterious donors on “attack” mailers — that are full of innuendo, hyperbole, distorted or unflattering photographs, and misleading associations that are clearly intended to destroy a person. These mailers and messages are distinguishable from “contrast” ads that are fairly aimed at differentiating the policy positions, qualifications, or character of candidates.

Biz PAC and SCCAOR apparently feel they need to pick up the attack ad mantle from the disgraced SVO PAC that dissolved in 2020 after numerous community leaders called its leadership out for a blatantly racist campaign webpage and racist dog whistle mailers. (SCCAOR funded these SVO ads but later denounced them and denied knowledge of their content.) Notably, officials from both PACs did not sign the Racial Equity Action Leadership (REAL) coalition’s “Non-Racism Campaign Pledge” that was widely disseminated in Spring 2024.

In the 2022 mayoral race, Biz PAC spent tens of thousands of dollars on grotesque and extremely misleading ads accusing Supervisor Cindy Chavez of silencing the Asian American community, using race as a means to divide San Jose residents and attempting to sow distrust in an entire segment of our community against her.

In the 2024 primary election, Biz PAC and SCCAOR produced racist ads against candidates Kansen Chu, Vanessa Sandoval, and Domingo Candelas, featuring a classic dog whistle technique of face-darkening, and, in the case of Chu, portraying him next to a large Chinese Dragon with a red “X” over the dragon. Both Chu and Sandoval lost in the primary. San José Spotlight reported the story in February 2024.

And now, during this year’s general election, the Biz PAC’s latest series of mudslinging ads depicts two candidates — Pamela Campos and Betty Duong — in photographs with embattled San Jose Councilmember Omar Torres, implying that in some way they knew or condoned his personal behavior before the salacious news about him emerged. California Association of REALTORS was one of the funders of these ads. Both the candidates who were attacked are younger women of color, both of whom have served our community, one as a longtime public servant and the other as a nonprofit and civic leader. On the other hand, what has the Biz PAC done to benefit our community other than coming out of its cave momentarily to spend its apparently unlimited resources to tear down the kind of people we should be encouraging to run?

Not only are these ads disgusting and misleading, it’s important to note that the negative effects of these kinds of attacks do not simply dissipate the moment elections are called. Such personal attacks carry forward with the candidates once the campaign is over because anger and hurt turns into resentment and distrust. Because salacious innuendo and misinformation sow division and discord, the consequences of such attacks also live on in our community, as we have seen from the frightening results of the grotesque rhetoric that continues to plague national politics.

We expect the defense of such tactics will rely on some variation of “attack ads are common and everyone does it.” Just because something is common doesn’t mean it’s right. The reality is that these two organizations are the major local purveyors of mudslinging attack ads and perpetrators of racist dog whistle ads in recent years. Mudslinging begets mudslinging.

If we accept deceptive attack ads as the norm, how can we expect well-intentioned, intelligent, and dedicated members of our community to dare run for public office (which doesn’t pay well and doesn’t promise much of a work-life balance)?

These hate-filled tactics are a threat to democracy.

We call on community leaders to participate in a broad-based community dialogue about acceptable campaigning before the next election. Signing the REAL coalition’s “Non-Racist Campaign Pledge” is a good start but a baseline. Let’s restore hope in democracy, at least locally, by finding a path to a more civically healthy society, one where we can disagree and debate issues without causing harm to each other or our community.

At this point — the final days of a consequential election — the very least members of our community can do is ignore the attack ads sent by Biz PAC and SCCAOR, as well as other obvious attack ads. Even more importantly, candidates who attack ads purport to benefit should denounce them — today.

Darcie Green is the Executive Director of Latinas Contra Cancer. Kyra Kazantzis is the CEO of the Silicon Valley Council of Nonprofits. Huy Tran is the Executive Director of SIREN (Services, Immigrant Rights, and Education Network). All three are active members of the nonprofit Racial Equity Action Leadership coalition.