ANN ARBOR, MI – Ahead of a Candidates Forum scheduled for Wednesday night, a three-way primary race for a seat on Ann Arbor City Council sparked heated discussions online after a candidate posted cartoons of her opponents, including one that some call anti-Semitic.

Democratic candidate and environmentalist from district 4 Mozhgan Savabieasfahani posted in a public Facebook group, Ann Arbor Politics, Monday, calling on his opponents in the race to represent the southwest part of town. Savabieasfahani highlighted what she sees as negative qualities of her opponents, public relations specialist and former MLive journalist Jen Eyer and holder Jack eaton: its campaign contributors and its position on policing.

But the cartoons of each of his opponents worried some. One depicts Eyer holding money next to a costumed cigar-smoking pig who hands him more money. The other shows Eaton flanked by two pigs, all three wearing law enforcement uniforms and pointing guns at the viewer. Savabieasfahani declined in an interview to say who drew the cartoons and whether she commissioned them.

Some comments were quick to call the designs for anti-Semitic overtones because Jews have long been portrayed as animals and figures from financial institutions.

On Wednesday, Savabieasfahani removed the cartoons from his post at the request of the group’s moderators. She defended the post, saying political cartoons have a long history in elections. She laughed at the accusation that the images had anti-Semitic overtones and said the pig was supposed to represent capitalists and “former party hackers”, referring to notable Democratic figures who donated to the campaign. from Eyer. She mentioned former Michigan Democratic Party Presidents Rick Weiner and Lon Johnson, who each donated to the Eyer campaign, according to financial records.

“What you see in the two cartoons is really what I see as the essence of these two candidates and the reasons why Ann Arbor has a choice and that’s me,” said Savabieasfahani.

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In the same comment thread, Council member Jeff Hayner, D-1st Ward, shared a photo of Eyer wearing a fur coat. It was deleted, but screenshot show caption like “I want someone to look at me like Jen Eyer is looking at her fur coat.” He commented: “It’s pretty cartoonish, I hardly recognized Jen without her fur coat.”

Eyer spoke out against Hayner and Savabieasfahani’s comment, calling it “college cruelty” in a Facebook post. She called Hayner’s comment a “sexist political attack.”

In an interview, Hayner said he recognizes that women are subject to different standards than men, but his comment came from his opposition to fur. As an animal rights activist, he said he didn’t think officials should promote the wearing of fur, whether real or fake.

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“It’s not about her personally,” Hayner said. “It’s neither (sexist or political attacks). This is a bad example.

Eyer continued his disappointment at all the negative social media activity in an interview on Wednesday. She said she wanted to run a positive campaign and that other candidates and officials should not make personal or biased comments about other candidates and that she was disappointed that a photo from her wedding had been used for any purpose. policies.

“The residents of Ann Arbor deserve and should demand leaders who will represent them with grace and dignity,” Eyer wrote in the Facebook post denounce activity on social networks. “Constituents can count on me to continue to lead a positive, problem-focused campaign and my plans to move Ann Arbor forward.”

Eaton echoed Eyer’s opposition to negative campaigns. He said he was trying to avoid the engagement. He has previously supported adding more police officers to the Ann Arbor Police Department because he believes there should be enough police officers to personally engage with the community.

“It’s legitimate to have differences of opinion on public policy and political issues, but to engage in that is unworthy of us,” Eaton said. “We’re a better community than that. “

All three candidates will participate in the Washtenaw County Democratic Party’s “community conversation” event for the Wards 3 and 4 election at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Platt Pavilion in Farm Park County ahead of the August 4 election.

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