Two Brown County Democratic Party officials, one also a candidate in the November election, said Thursday that several political signs for Democratic candidates were destroyed, vandalized or stolen from the county’s early voting site.
County Democratic Party Chairman and candidate for Brown County Commissioner District 3 Justin Schwenk and Vice Chair Lora Lewis Rudd said Thursday that multiple campaign signs had been destroyed, vandalized or stolen from the county’s early voting location at Eagle Park in Nashville on Wednesday.
Rudd said no police reports had been filed as of Thursday afternoon, and messages left for Brown County Clerk Pearletta Banks were not immediately returned.
Schwenk forwarded photos of destroyed or vandalized signs to The Democrat on Thursday. He wrote in an email, “It was reported to me that several political signs were torn down and vandalized at the Eagle Park early voting location. I repaired the signs and redeployed them.”
Schwenk said three signs for Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris were destroyed, one sign for governor candidate Jennifer McCormick was ripped down, as was one for Schwenk’s candidacy at the early voting site. Schwenk said a separate sign for his candidacy also was destroyed at his home.
Rudd said she has received reports from local residents of political signs being stolen or damaged on their property around the county — something that she said also has happened in past years. But she said seeing signs vandalized outside the early voting precinct at Eagle Park felt different.
“This is striking, bold,” she said Thursday. “It felt like someone was emboldened to do this.”
Read more in the Oct. 23 issue of The Brown County Democrat.
