Last week I received an official sample ballot in the mail for the upcoming elections, where Councilwoman Janice Hahn and Tea Party-backed Republican candidate Craig Huey will be running for California’s 36th Congressional Race seat.

Being a resident of Wilmington, I know that although we may not always like what Janice Hahn does, we seem to all agree that she is a capable politician. For me, the outcome of this election was an obvious one. A poll conducted by Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin, Metz & Associates in February showed that Janice Hahn was up, which may be the reason for recent distasteful ads.

On Friday evening, as I was driving home from work, I heard about an offensive and racist ad campaign against Hahn on KCRW . This ad was made to attack Hahn for a gang rehabilitation program she supported. The program allows ex-gang members to become employed, and help solve the gang problem by becoming part of gang prevention programs.

Republicans immediately distanced themselves from this video. Craig Huey said he had nothing to do with the ad and he disapproved of it reported Newsy. The ad was created by independent conservative filmmaker Ladd Ehlinger Jr, who is also responsible for Turn Right USA. Unfortunately, the video was not the only attack. On Tuesday, the National Republican Congressional Committee sent text messages to voters in the 36th District notifying them that “Councilwoman Janice Hahn helped steer tax $ to violent, inner city gang members.”

I am tired of political ads continuing to use people of color as a way to create fear among voters. We are continuously marginalized and I believe the only way to stop this is to vote for candidates that do not support this type of attack system or have supporters that would make videos like this.

I definitely recommend everyone to look over the sample ballot and do research if needed. And of course, Go out and vote!

Elections are Tuesday, July 12th, exactly three weeks from today. Polls open at 7a.m. and close at 8p.m.