When asked if Whitbeck had a valid point, Tran replied that she herself was an immigrant and said she supports a Virginia that’s welcoming for all. Tran came to the United States as an infant with her parents from Vietnam.

Leslie Caughell, an assistant professor of political science at Virginia Wesleyan University, said she was surprised a Democratic candidate in a diverse Northern Virginia district would put her name on the mailer in the middle of a statewide campaign already rife with anti-immigrant rhetoric and messaging.

“I imagine a lot of Democratic voters are looking at this mailer and seeing the same racial undertones that I am. And they probably won’t vote for a Republican, but they may not be eager to vote for a candidate that they perceive as racist and stay home,” Caughell said by email.

“Which makes me wonder if whoever designed the mailer thought it would be timely and didn’t think about the optics of presenting a Latina woman as a threat. Although that seems like a glaring oversight.”

Mancheno-Smoak spokesman John Arnold said she was busy at events Tuesday when asked if she could do an interview.