SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Democratic Party of Sacramento County requested that several local Democrat officeholders rescind their endorsements of a Sacramento City Unified School District board candidate who has made controversial statements about Kamala Harris, Donald Trump and Latino immigrants on her Facebook page.

Rolanda Wilkins, who is running for Sacramento City Unified’s Trustee Area 1 seat, has already faced public scrutiny for Facebook vlogs and comments in which she criticized the vice president and called for violence against Black politicians. The first-time candidate has already lost the endorsement of Sacramento City Councilwoman Mai Vang, who said at the time that she “made the decision with a heavy heart.”

The letter was sent to Sacramento County Office of Education board member Bina Lefkovitz, Sacramento City Unified trustee Jamee Villa and former trustee Jay Hansen. Hansen told The Sacramento Bee that he reregistered with the party in another district earlier this year and clarified this in a response to the Democratic Party of Sacramento County.

Andrés Ramos, chair of the Democratic Party of Sacramento County, cited several comments made by Wilkins in her Facebook vlogs as well as The Bee’s coverage of Vang’s endorsement rescindment.

“Endorsing a candidate who has called for violence, expressed support for Trump winning, made racist comments, and attacked our presidential nominee, is unacceptable and reflects poorly on any Democrat who endorses her,” Ramos wrote in the letter.

The letter includes a list of problematic statements, including her statement about killing “fake Black leaders” and saying “this b---- is poison” in reference to Harris. Ramos also points to her comment that the Latino community has done nothing for the Black community and takes issue with her tepid support of Trump winning the upcoming election.

Wilkins’ opponent, Jose Navarro, is being endorsed by the party. Ramos wrote that their endorsement of a non-Democrat undermines the party’s ability to elect Democrats to office.

The officeholders were given until Monday to withdraw their endorsements, else they will be ineligible for Democratic Party of Sacramento County endorsements for five years.

Hansen, who is not subject to the terms of the party since he resigned from its central committee earlier this year, said that he will continue to endorse Wilkins as she is “clearly the best candidate for the job.”

“Her opponent has no experience in youth projects and she has been supporting our youth as a longtime member of the community,” he said.

Lefkovitz and Villa did not return requests for comment about their decision to uphold or rescind their endorsements.

Wilkins reacts to the letter

Wilkins, a community activist and nonprofit founder, said that she was notified of the letter through an anonymous text message. She has not yet spoken with Lefkovitz or Villa about the letter and is not aware of what they have decided.

The situation has bolstered the candidate’s opinion that the American two-party electoral system is “poison” that does not serve the interests of Black people in particular. Wilkins has long criticized the Democratic Party and its treatment of Black people in vlogs and comments posted to her Facebook page.

Wilkins is a registered No Party Preference voter and said that she voted for Green Party candidate Jill Stein in the last presidential election.

“I don’t belong to a political party and because of this I’ll probably never belong to a political party,” she said.

She denounced the Democratic Party of Sacramento County, calling their tactics “gangsterish” and “vicious.”

“I feel like I can relate right now to Donald Trump and him being railroaded, and damn, I’m not Donald Trump but I must be something if I’m being treated like this,” she said. “I didn’t know the Sacramento Democrats were rolling like the mafia. They always come across as the party of democracy and I was like, ‘Wow, they are some dirty fighters.’”

Following Vang’s endorsement rescindment, Wilkins sought to clarify her statement about Latinos and expressed regret for using the misogynistic slur in reference to Harris, but otherwise still stands by the rest of her comments.

She reiterated the argument she made in August that she uses her platform to have intercommunity discussions about issues relating to Black people. She feels that her words in her posts and vlogs are being misinterpreted due to a lack of understanding of the Black community and that “it’s a shame that the people who have been hurt by the system aren’t able to talk about how they’ve been hurt.”

She said that although the possibility of losing these endorsements is disappointing, she does not feel that it threatens her candidacy and that she will continue to move forward with the campaign.

“It’s very sad but I’m gonna keep pushing,” she said. “My ancestors fought and died for this place. We survived slavery in this place. We survived Jim Crow laws in this place and everything that everyone threw at us in this place. So I’m not backing down. It makes me work harder.”

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