Vandals defaced the campaign sign of a black Florida Republican candidate last week, painting her in whiteface, an obvious dig at her political stance.
In a heavily Democratic district, congress hopeful Glo Smith was the victim of vandalism and theft, as a number of her signs have also been stolen. This incident follows a string of biased occurrences against black Republicans in Florida.
The eight foot by four foot campaign sign was posted on private property. The face on the sign, displaying a smiling Smith in a fuschia suit jacket, was carefully colored in with white paint, leaving the eyes untouched for a creepy effect.
Smith is challenging long-sitting Democratic Congresswoman Corinne Brown in Florida’s Fifth Congressional District, where Democratic registration is well above 60 percent. Brown easily defeated her Republican challenger in 2012 with more than 70 percent of the vote.
“We expect signs to be tampered with or stolen,” Smith said, “but not to this extent.” She has not reported the episode to police, but a tweet from the Smith campaign blew up over the weekend.