FAIRMONT, W.Va. — A longtime state senator says that he was so concerned over the content of political robocalls he called the West Virginia State Police to look into them.
Roman Prezioso, D-Marion, who is running for re-election after serving 20 years in the Senate, became aware of a call placed to county voters late this week just days before Tuesday’s election where he faces GOP challenger Barry Bledsoe. The voice on the recorded call claims to be a 12-year-old girl who encountered a naked man in the locker room after swim practice the evening before.
The recorded call, paid for by the Family Policy of West Virginia, claims that Prezioso doesn’t care about the safety of young girls in locker rooms and that Bledsoe will protect women and children from having to share facilities with the opposite sex. The issue involves use of bathrooms by transgender people, an issue currently being litigated in federal court.
The scenario the call is based on did not happen in West Virginia, Prezioso said, but rather Washington state, and it did not happen the night before, but rather six months ago. He described it as “disgusting” and a “scare tactic.”
“When you are using children to make a political argument or to gain political advantage, you’ve crossed the line,” Prezioso said. “I got a lot of inquiries from my constituents. It sounded like a 911 call.”
Prezioso said that as a former school administrator, he knows just how serious he has to take threats against children in a school environment.
“If there was a situation like that, it should be brought to justice,” he said. “I called the State Police immediately.”
Prezioso was not the only lawmaker targeted in the calls paid for by the Family Policy Council of West Virginia, a state group affiliated with the conservative Christian group Family Research Council. There were similar calls made in counties represented by Sen. Corey Palumbo, D-Kanawha, Delegate Denise Campbell, D-Randolph, Sen. Bob Williams, D-Taylor, and Delegate Stephen Skinner, D-Jefferson.
Allen Whitt, executive director of the Family Policy Council, told the Huffington Post that the calls were “awesome.” Whitt also told a reporter from the Gazette-Mail that he understood why people were upset by the content of the robocalls.
Bledsoe said that he was not aware of the calls before they were made but that when he had the opportunity to hear it firsthand, he approved of the message. It isn’t a “scare tactic,” as his opponent describes it, Bledsoe said, but rather “a scenario.”
“While I did not know about the robocall before it happened, I do agree with the intent of the robocall, which is to enlighten people what could happen moving forward by allowing the opposite sex into bathrooms and locker rooms.”
Prezioso says that he believes the call was motivated by the GOP-controlled state senate killing the Religious Freedom and Restoration Act, proposed laws the Family Policy Council heavily supported. He points out that the proposed laws had nothing to do with the transgender bathroom issue, which is in the hands of a federal court and more than likely will be ruled on by the Supreme Court.
“When you use a scare tactic get people emotionally charged, that’s just flat-out wrong,” Prezioso said. “This was meant to scare people away from polls or to scare them into a decision. They are trying to use scare tactics to confuse the voters in the state. I just hope that voters are smart enough to see through that craziness.”
Email Misty Poe at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter @MistyPoeTWV.
