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A politician in Texas has been accused of “disgusting” dirty tricks after winning a local election against an African-American opponent by pretending to be black.

Dave Wilson, a conservative Republican standing in a district dominated by black Democrats, narrowly beat a 24-year incumbent to claim a seat on the Houston community college board. Mr. Wilson circulated campaign leaflets featuring pictures of black people that he had downloaded from the internet, telling residents: “Please vote for our friend and neighbour Dave Wilson.”

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One piece of literature even declared that he had been “endorsed by Ron Wilson” – stating only in the small-print that this referred to the candidate’s cousin in Iowa, rather than a popular local black politician with the same name.

“He’s a nice cousin,” Mr. Wilson told KHOU, a local television news channel. “We played baseball in high school together, and he’s endorsed me.”