Republican presidential contender Ted Cruz refused to apologize for a controversial “voter shaming” mailer sent out to Iowans in the run up to Monday’s all important Iowa caucus.

“I will apologize to no one for using every tool at hand to encourage Iowa voters to come out and vote,” Cruz told the Washington Examiner, before adding that such mailers are “routine.”

The mailer was sent in a manila envelope marked “Public Record,” and warned recipients, in bold red letters, of a “VOTING VIOLATION.”  The campaign literature showed poor voting grades of the recipient and their neighbors, instructing the voter to “CAUCUS ON MONDAY TO IMPROVE YOUR SCORE.”

@RBPundit pic.twitter.com/FBjxaipH9p

— BraddockMassey (@Braddock_Massey) January 30, 2016

Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate issued a statement on Saturday afternoon saying the mailer “misrepresents Iowa election law.”

“There is no such thing as an election violation related to frequency of voting,” he said in the statement.

The mailer has sparked an intense debate on social media over whether it is ethical, or a “creepy” tactic to deceive people into voting.

Part of me thinks the Cruz mailer is creepy.

Another part of me is curious to see if it boosts turnout.

— Sonny Bunch (@SonnyBunch) January 30, 2016

@SonnyBunch it’s super creepy

— Mark Waclawiak (@mwaclawiak) January 30, 2016

And @RandPaul calls into am 1040 to trash Cruz mailer. “It’s the creepy kind of thing you expect from Washington politicians.”

— daveweigel (@daveweigel) January 30, 2016

Like all spam, the Cruz mailer motive is to get a positive response from a small percentage, and not care about the negative responses. 5/

— Cruzervative (@lheal) January 30, 2016

Think the Cruz mailer was kinda dumb because it plays into a certain personality assumption about him, but doubt it has a big impact.

— John Ekdahl (@JohnEkdahl) January 30, 2016

That Cruz mailer was a colossal misstep. His campaign turned off a lot of people with that thing. #nerdland

— BSmith (@kaiju66) January 31, 2016

@toddstarnes @DLoesch at this point it seems the only people that care are those supporters of candidates that wish they had used this..

— Charlie Cafazza (@Cafazza) January 31, 2016

@toddstarnes this is much ado about something very little

— Robert Haus (@roberthaus) January 31, 2016

@toddstarnes @ChrisLoesch ..nobody likes to be controlled, manipulated or threatened

— James J. Sorensen (@jimmyjokcmo) January 31, 2016

Just reading about the Cruz mailer. Dumb, but Iowa voters really need to put away their fainting couches.

— Peter Cook (@Slublog) January 30, 2016

@Slublog He isn’t first to do it.I got one few years ago -can’t even remember candidate’s name or party now. Survived just fine.

— Kathleen (@teamfrazzled) January 31, 2016

@teddyschleifer @Texas4Cruz I love Cruz, but think this is a rare misstep.

— Mike Paranzino (@mikeparanzino) January 31, 2016

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Tom Tillison

Senior Staff Writer
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The longest-tenured writer at BizPac Review, Tom grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills.

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