Richmond Free Press Publisher Jean P. Boone has asked Delegate G.M. “Manoli” Loupassi and his campaign to refrain from distributing campaign literature that falsely implies that he was endorsed by the newspaper.

The Free Press endorsed Delegate Loupassi’s opponent, Democrat Dawn M. Adams, in the contest for the 68th District seat in the Virginia House of Delegates.

Delegate Loupassi, the Republican incumbent, told the media on Monday that he withdrew the emails before correcting them.

The emails included a portion of an Oct. 12 Free Press news story about his endorsement by the Richmond Crusade for Voters, the 60-year-old organization started to boost African-American voting strength.

However, instead of including the newspaper’s published headline, “Richmond Crusade for Voters endorses diverse slate,” Delegate Loupassi’s emails to voters changed the headline to “Richmond Free Press endorses diverse slate,” making it seem as though he had been endorsed by the newspaper.

He said the erroneous information would not be handed out to voters on Election Day.

In endorsing Dr. Adams in its Nov. 2-4 edition, the Free Press stated that Delegate Loupassi has an “abysmal” voting record on scores of issues that heavily impact the African-American community.

“By comparison, Dr. Adams supports increasing state funding for school districts like Richmond with high concentrations of poverty, health care coverage for all, including more comprehensive mental health care, curbing student debt for higher education and campaign finance reform,” the Free Press stated.