To the editor:

You can imagine my surprise last week when I opened my mailbox to find a 17-page insult mailed to me at what, I presume, was my own expense.

This insult – a political mailer on official House of Delegates letterhead, with his Alexandria City Hall office as a return address – came from Delegate Mark Levine. Though he has sent similar letters in the past, what I found galling about this one was the blatant use of taxpayer resources to campaign.

While ostensibly a legislative update from Richmond, that vainly strove to frame his paltry accomplishments this session as central to the survival of the Commonwealth, the letter was a laughably transparent effort by Levine to remind everyone that he is bizarrely running for two separate offices and to ask for political support. I am far from the only HD-45 resident outraged by this misuse of public funds, and I am disappointed but wholly unsurprised that the delegate doesn’t know better.

Delegate Levine asks for us to vote for him twice, but on June 8 I think I’d rather vote once, for Elizabeth Bennett-Parker. She has been an effective, ethical leader in Alexandria, and I know that in Richmond she will continue to lead with the integrity we expect from those in the public’s service. I respectfully ask that you join me in voting for Elizabeth next week.

-Jesse O’Connell, Alexandria