A Democrat-aligned group is sending spammy mailers designed to look like official election literature to voters in New York’s battleground 19th Congressional District.
GOP Rep. Marc Molinaro’s campaign shared a photo of one mailer on his X account Tuesday morning showing comparisons between him and his Democratic challenger Josh Riley.
The group sending the mailer, “The Center for Voter Information,” appears to present itself as nonpartisan, telling recipients that it “provides important election information to voters like you in the district.”
But the nonprofit org behind the mailer is really aligned with Democrats, having spent tens of thousands of dollars to boost President Biden and other candidates, ProPublica previously reported.
Election officials have previously raised alarms about CVI, saying the group is confusing voters with the mailers that could be mistaken for official literature sent by state or local governments, according to the ProPublica report.
“These mailers are being sent by a dark money Democratic group, not a nonpartisan agency like they claim,” Molinaro said in a video shared with The Post.
“We’ve been dealing with these deception tactics from Josh Riley and his allies for a long time,” the first-term congressman said.
“Everything about Josh Riley is a fraud. Don’t let this discourage you from voting,” Molinaro added.
The mailer claims that Molinaro does not “support investing in small businesses so that they can grow and create high-paying jobs,” and that the congressman is also against “keeping manufacturing jobs in America” and “checks on gun purchases.”
Republicans are highlighting what they call an effort to suppress GOP votes not just in Molinaro’s district, but in other competitive races across the country including a few others in New York.
“Democrats are pulling every dirty trick in the book to subvert democracy as President Trump and House Republicans surge in the polls,” National Republican Campaign Committee Chair Richard Hudson wrote in a statement.
“Their far-left liberal polices decimated Americans’ quality of life and led to a historic border crisis, but instead of owning up to their failures Hakeem Jeffries and his backers are spreading egregious lies about Republicans,” Hudson continued.
More than $26 million has been spent in the neck-and-neck battle for the 19th Congressional District, so far the costliest House race in New York, The Post previously reported.
Riley’s campaign didn’t respond to a request for comment.