08/09/2026
🚨Announcement!!!🚨
Hey, Everyone!
Today, I exercised my right as a voting member of a caucus that once gave me its endorsement when I was a candidate for Congress.
First, I want to be clear: I do not speak on behalf of the Caucus. I can only speak to the procedures that were conveyed to voting members, what I personally witnessed today, and my own experiences.
Based on the information conveyed to us, Leticia Gutierrez was not an endorsed candidate going into today’s meeting. Voting members were informed that her campaign had been invited multiple times to participate in an updated screening process and declined those invitations.
During the meeting, a voting member raised the question of reconsidering Leticia for endorsement. When voting members were given the opportunity to speak, no voting member spoke on her behalf. I exercised my right as a voting member and spoke in opposition due to the racial and homophobic slurs said to me at Wallisville polling location. When it was her campaign’s opportunity to speak, her new campaign manager spoke on her behalf.
Members of the Caucus exercised their vote.
Since then, I have seen attempts to characterize me as “disgruntled” or suggest that I am somehow aligning myself with the Republican Party. 😂
Both are false.
I also stated that a candidate should not be given Black voters just because they are the nominee. Talarico has to earn it and so does Leticia.
Anyone making that accusation is welcome to take a full look at my public record. Scroll down my page. I publicly challenged and debated Alex Miller and Briscoe Cain on issues involving human rights, LGBTQ+ rights, civil rights, civil liberties, and democracy when others in my race either agreed with them or would not take a position. I was the ONLY Democrat willing to stand up then, and I am willing to stand up now.
I will never align myself with policies that attack the rights, dignity, and freedoms of the communities I have spent my life advocating for. Disagreeing with another Democrat does not make me a Republican. Holding another Democrat accountable does not make me disloyal to democracy.
Party affiliation does not require blind allegiance.
I would have loved to endorse Leticia. I genuinely would have. But based upon my personal experiences during this campaign, I could not do so in good conscience.
Those experiences did not happen behind closed doors with only two people present. There were interactions witnessed publicly by poll workers, members of my community, family, friends, and people at polling locations.
I have spoken about statements and conduct I experienced as both a Black man and a gay man, including homophobic remarks and statements about a Black man not being able to win District 9 and the district belonging to her because she is a Hispanic woman. I have strong evidence that supports my objectivity.
You don’t have to agree with me. But you do not get to erase my experience simply because acknowledging it is politically inconvenient. My Blackness does not become less important because another Black man is attacking me.
My identity as a Black gay man does not become less worthy of protection because the person I am criticizing is a Democrat. My vote does not become less legitimate because it was not the vote someone wanted me to cast.
What is particularly disappointing is seeing another Black man publicly participate in an attempt to diminish my voice and question my motives rather than simply disagree with my position. We can disagree politically without attempting to delegitimize one another.
And when individuals publicly speak as representatives of a campaign, I believe the candidate ultimately has a responsibility to set the standard for how that campaign conducts itself. I cannot tell anyone what conversations occurred privately or what a candidate personally instructed someone to say. I can only judge what was said publicly and how representatives of a campaign choose to conduct themselves.
That speaks for itself.
I also recognize that all of us exist outside of politics. Behind campaigns, endorsements, titles, and disagreements are real people with families, careers, reputations, and livelihoods. Some people have more to lose than others, and I do not take that lightly.
For that reason, I will exercise discretion about what I share publicly and when I believe it is necessary to share it. That restraint should never be mistaken for an absence of facts or an inability to substantiate what I have said.
I will not destroy another person’s livelihood simply to win an argument on Facebook. But I will not sacrifice my own dignity, integrity, or experiences to make somebody else’s political life more comfortable.
There is a difference between restraint and silence.
I choose restraint.
I will not choose silence.
I came in second in a crowded Democratic primary. I won Black voters and young voters in CD 9. I am proud of the campaign I ran, and I am not angry that Leticia became the Democratic nominee.
But losing an election did not cost me my voice.
So call me disgruntled. Call me a Republican. Attack me online. Misrepresent my motives. None of it changes what I experienced, what others witnessed, or what I know.
I fought for Black voters, LGBTQ+ people, civil rights, and the people of my district when my name was on the ballot. I will continue fighting for them when there is no election, no campaign check, and no title attached to my name. You don’t have to agree with my voice. But you will not erase it.
My voice counts too. I wish the candidate well, but too much is on the line to focus on me. Focus on fighting Alex Mealer! We have one common goal. Keep Alex Mealer out of Congress. Even with that goal, we have to hold each other’s hand and hold each other accountable! Which includes tough conversations on respecting yourself.
** The video posted is just a snippet of the conversation that was had about hearsay and “support.” The video also supports that I am not an establishment backed candidate. No one asked me to run. I did so to go against the MAGA Extremist!
Thank you,
-Earnest Clayton
