Another setback to the GOP’s stated mission of reaching out to women and minorities.

An Illinois Republican official resigned Thursday, after writing a vicious attack on a biracial, female congressional candidate–calling her the “love child” of the Democratic National Committee, destined to work for “some law firm that needs to meet their quota for minority hires.”

The target was Erika Harold, a former Miss America and Harvard Law graduate who is seeking the Republican nomination for the 13th congressional district in central Illinois.

Montgomery County GOP Chairman Jim Allen referred to Harold as “miss queen,” and said that she was “being used like a street walker,” whose “pimps are the DEMOCRAT PARTY and RINO REPUBLICANS.” Allen sent the email to the conservative website Republican News Watch, which posted the text in full and called it a “racist rant.”

Allen did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Harold’s opponent, incumbent Republican Rep. Rodney Davis, disavowed Allen’s remarks and removed his name from the list of supporters on the Davis campaign website, following questioning from the Post-Dispatch.

Jack Dorgan, chairman of the Illinois Republican Party, said that he “accepted the resignation of Jim Allen as Montgomery County chairman” in a statement posted on the state GOP’s Facebook page.

“These types of offensive and inappropriate remarks have no place in our Republican Party,” said Dorgan.

Dorgan was joined in his criticism by other GOP officials, who have acknowledged the need to improve their party’s standing with women and minority voters. In a 100-page autopsy report on the GOP’s 2012 loss, the RNC pledged $10 million to improving minority outreach.

“The astonishingly offensive views expressed by Chairman Allen have absolutely no place among the leaders of our party at any level,” said Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Preibus. “His behavior is inexcusable and must not be tolerated.”

Below is the full text of Chairman Allen’s email, as published by Republican News Watch: