These New Jersey candidates were attacked with xenophobic messages. They all won.

By Kristine Phillips November 8 at 5:24 PM

The message on postcards mailed to voters in the New Jersey township of Edison was not ambiguous.

Stamped beneath the pictures of two Asian school board candidates is the word “DEPORT.” Between the photos, in large white letters against a navy blue background, is an iteration of a familiar campaign slogan: “MAKE EDISON GREAT AGAIN.”

Within the same week, a mayoral candidate in nearby Hoboken, N.J., became the target of xenophobic fliers left on doorsteps and tucked underneath windshield wipers.

Those did not mince words, either: “Don't let TERRORISM take over our Town!” Below that is a picture of the candidate, a Sikh man wearing a turban.

All three were declared winners in the elections on Tuesday, just days after the postcards and fliers began circulating. Jerry Shi and Falguni Patel won two of the three open seats on the Edison Township Public Schools board. Ravinder Bhalla, who had previously served as a council member, won in Hoboken’s contentious mayoral race, becoming one of the first Sikh mayors of a U.S. city.

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