June 4, 2012 The Honorable Nan Hayworth Fishkill District Office 2 Summit Court Suite 103 Fishkill, NY 12524

Madame Congresswoman, In recent days, our district has been embroiled in a controversy surrounding hurtful and hateful remarks made by your campaigns spokesman, Jay Townsend. I am urging you today, as I have been urging you since our campaign revealed Mr. Townsends remarks last Thursday, to show that you will not allow someone to use this type of misogynistic and unacceptable language on your behalf by removing Mr. Townsend from any position whether on staff or as a paid consultant he might currently hold with your campaign. As I am sure you are aware, Mr. Townsend replied on what was clearly your behalf to a comment that was critical of your position on gas prices with a series of offensive comments, which culminated in the following wholly indefensible remark: Listen to Tom. What a little bee he has in his bonnet. Buzz Buzz. My question todaywhen is Tommy boy going to weigh in on all the Lilly Ledbetter hypocrites who claim to be fighting the War on Women? Lets hurl some acid at those female democratic Senators who wont abide the mandates they want to impose on the private sector. This uniquely violent imagery is simply unacceptable and was clearly intended to have a chilling effect on the women Mr. Townsend was running to serve in the Senate with less than two years ago. Mr. Townsends remark was described by the President of EMILYs List as without a doubt the most disgusting thing I have ever heard in politics.i Thousands of outraged comments flooded the internet including your taxpayer funded official Facebook page, before they were deleted condemning the statement. Mr. Townsends specific choice of words also appears to have been intended to conjure up a particular brutal practice around the world. Acid attacks are frequently used as a tool of extremists to punish and silence women whove bravely made their voices heard. They are known in this country only because of that history; the only imagery surrounding hurl some acid that I am aware of is women being disfigured for speaking out.
Richard Becker for Congress 211 Fishkill Avenue Beacon, NY 12508 www.becker2012.com (914) 205-6400 (p) (914) 827-9204 (f)

Far from being a manufactured controversy, as your campaign initially claimed, this is a legitimate issue based entirely on Mr. Townsends own completely inappropriate conduct and even Mr. Townsend now acknowledges his comments were stupid, thoughtless and insensitive as well as incendiary. This language is unbecoming of the United States Congress, unworthy of the best traditions of our democracy, unprofessional in the extreme, and should have been cause for immediate dismissal. Had it been made by a junior staffer, the comment would be inexcusable. But Mr. Townsend is anything but a junior staffer. Since 2009, your campaign has paid Mr. Townsend and his company $289,863.34 to serve as your lead strategist.ii That is a staggering sum, and it underscores how close Mr. Townsend is to you and your campaign. If any one staff member could be said to truly speak for you, it would be Mr. Townsend. However, your campaign has argued that Mr. Townsend is not your campaign spokesman even though he is the most recent person from your campaign to reply to local press inquiries on your behalf. In response to queries from the Poughkeepsie Journal, a daily newspaper covering much of this district, your campaign manager Bruce Harvie said in an email to the Journal that Townsend is not the campaign spokesperson.iii On May 22 less than two weeks ago Mr. Townsend was quoted along with your official, Congressional communications director Terence Michos responding to charges that your record on taxpayer-funded mailings was extremely hypocritical. At the time, Gannett newspapers described Mr. Townsend as a spokesman for Hayworths campaign.iv Considering that he was indeed responding on your campaigns behalf to criticism of your record, and considering that he has been employed by you as a consultant for almost the entire time you have been running for Congress, it seems eminently fair to describe him as your spokesman. Either your campaign manager is misinformed about who is acting as your campaign spokesman, or you are intentionally trying to mislead the voters of this district. Neither possibility would reflect well upon you and your campaign. These repeated attempts to obfuscate the close nature of your relationship to Mr. Townsend and the nature of his comments in order to dodge responsibility for statements that he made on your behalf are extremely troubling. On clear cut moral issues like this one, there is no gray area. Either you do the right thing and refuse to accept unacceptable behavior, or you in effect condone the indefensible. I therefore urge you to do the right thing and fire Mr. Townsend. Even after a nearly week-long delay, firing Mr. Townsend would send a welcome message that you agree that his derogatory language has no place in the Hudson Valley. Respectfully,

Dr. Richard Becker Democratic Candidate for Congress

Richard Becker for Congress 211 Fishkill Avenue Beacon, NY 12508 www.becker2012.com (914) 205-6400 (p) (914) 827-9204 (f)

EMILY's List President Stephanie Schriock On Republican Staffer's Threats Against Women Senators, 6/1/12, emilyslist.org/news/releases/schriock_statement_on_republican_staffers_threats_against_women_senators/ ii A full lists of disbursements from your campaign to Mr. Townsend, pulled from FEC reports, is available at: tinyurl.com/HayworthTownsendSpending iii Poughkeepsie Journal, Hayworth foe rips offensive posting, 6/2/12, http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2012306020015 iv Journal News, Hayworth criticized Hall on taxpayer funded mailings, 5/22/12, http://polhudson.lohudblogs.com/2012/05/22/hayworth-criticized-hall-on-taxpayer-funded-mailings/

Richard Becker for Congress 211 Fishkill Avenue Beacon, NY 12508 www.becker2012.com

(914) 205-6400 (p) (914) 827-9204 (f)