× Thanks for reading! Log in to continue. Enjoy more articles by logging in or creating a free account. No credit card required. Log in Sign up {{featured_button_text}}

Del. Jackson H. Miller, R-Manassas, the state House majority whip, sent voters a mailer comparing Democratic opponent Lee Carter to communist dictators Joseph Stalin and Mao Zedong.

The mailer attacks Carter for identifying as a Democratic Socialist and includes the word “Socialism” over a red background with a picture of Carter alongside images of the communists. The mailer also includes Vladimir Lenin, Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx.

Marx and Engels were German philosophers who published “The Communist Manifesto.”

Carter said the mailer was evidence of his chances of beating Miller on Tuesday. Earlier this year, Miller, a real estate agent and former police officer, lost a special election in Prince William County for clerk of court.

“Desperate men will say anything, and it just shows that he’s desperate,” Carter said. “I am a veteran of the United States Marine Corps. I volunteered in the middle of two wars. And I’m trying to make sure that every Virginian has health care similar to what I had when I was on active duty.”

Carter supports single-payer health care, something many Democrats don’t endorse and Republicans call radical. The plan means government would fund basic health care for all.