It’s often a hallmark of a competitive political race: accusing your opponent of stealing campaign signs. And in the race for the 17th Legislative District, Position 1, the sign war has begun.
Despite a friendly handshake earlier this summer, where incumbent Democrat Monica Stonier and Republican challenger Lynda Wilson vowed to run a smear-free campaign, the accusations are flying.
It started when a Republican precinct committee officer reportedly saw another Republican precinct committee officer removing a Stonier campaign sign and throwing it into the back of his pickup. Despite being members of the same party, Penny Ross, the PCO, did not condone the behavior of the alleged sign thief and shot off an email saying as much. The note prompted Stonier to write Wilson she was missing numerous signs and asking her to “please send payment for 40 signs at a very conservative (rate of) $4 each.”
Wilson said the sign was replaced, it was a singular incident, and Stonier should have called her first.
“The thing is, this happens every campaign season … And I don’t think most of the signs she’s missing or I’m missing are from either of our campaigns, quite frankly,” Wilson said, adding some of them are taken by volunteers or for unrelated reasons.
Campaign signs do play a key role in name recognition for candidates, according to Jim Moore, a political science professor and director of the Tom McCall Center for Policy Innovation at Pacific University in Forest Grove, Ore.
But here’s the hitch: location matters.
“It’s got to be where voters are going to see them,” Moore said.
Which explains why fights often erupt over signs each political cycle. But beyond the gamesmanship, there is another factor: It’s often volunteers who are putting up the signs.
“By definition they are more heavily invested in a candidate, so they will do more things to make sure the candidate wins,” Moore said.
The role of campaign signs, like that of the campaign buttons, is diminishing as campaigns turn toward social media and mailers, Moore said.
But in Clark County, political signs still resonate with voters, he said.
Wilson said she is running a campaign with integrity.
“I do want to run a clean campaign and a fair campaign,” Wilson said.
She won’t, however, be writing Stonier a check for campaign signs.
