Haitian-born Miami mayoral candidate Anna Pierre has asked for prayers from three countries, claiming that someone is trying to use witchcraft to get her to quit the race.
Pierre, one of eight candidates running for mayor in Northern Miami, claimed on Monday, April 8 that an unidentified person is using “sinister sorcery and threatening phone calls” so she could exit the mayoral race.
Pierre said people have been leaving chicken feathers, food scraps and candles at her office doorstep over the past three months, stating that the items are tied to witchcraft — mystical rituals common to the Haitian Voodoo religion.
Voodoo, which blends Catholic beliefs with the worship of deities, is deeply rooted in the Haitian culture, and also widely practiced outside of the French-speaking Caribbean country.
“I found little dolls with needles in it,” Pierre told reporters. “They put a lot of pennies at front of my office door. I’m from Haiti. I know what it is.”
Pierre, a nurse and singer, claims that her popularity in the Haitian community in Miami is a threat to whoever is trying to curse her.
Well known for her 1990s Creole-language hit song, “Suk Su Bon Bon”, Pierre demands in the song that her husband put sugar on her “cookie” , or else she will leave him.
She said the threats are not just of a spiritual nature, explaining that an anonymous person has been using a blocked phone number to call her, urging her to drop out of the race.
“I have people in Haiti, Canada and the U.S. praying for me,” she said. “I have Jesus with me.”
With the elections weeks away, several other candidates have cried foul over standard political shenanigans by opponents, such as stolen signs and vandalism.
According to media reports, candidate Kevin Burns said he has filed five police reports with the North Miami Police Department, that someone stole his campaign signs in various parts of the city. In at least two instances, another candidate’s sign replaced his, Burns reportedly said.
Another mayoral candidate, Haitian-born Dr. Smith Joseph, was reported as saying that he feared for his safety and had asked North Miami police to watch over his medical office, after vandals spray-painted his building with what police say appears to be a white fist.
Joseph reportedly told police he thinks he was being targeted by his opponents.
In the run-up to the May 14 elections, Pierre says she will not allow stolen signage or spells to derail her campaign, adding that she has filed a police report that 50 of her campaign signs were stolen.
“My campaign signs call for an end to corruption,” she said. “Someone doesn’t want to see that happen.”
Pierre said she will replace the signs, and is ready to take on the perpetrators of voodoo spells.
“They can put all the voodoo they want,” she said. “I’m a Christian woman. I’m not scared.”
