Enfield: Property owner says Republicans had permission to put signs on his property that Democrats removed. Democrats launch a text message diversion.

Two Enfield Democratic town council members look more foolish today than they do on an October 8th video showing them taking Republican signs from a busy street.

Matthew Despard and Nick Hopkins appear on the video when they arrived after hours at the parking lot of The Jug Shop. They proceeded to remove Republican campaign signs from the grassy divider between the parking lot and the street. They took signs for Carol Hall, Despard’s opponent in the 59th House District, and dropped them off anonymously at the home of the local Republican town committee chairman Kelly Hemmeler.

The Journal Inquirer’s Susan Danseyar reports the story, including a brouhaha at Monday’s town council meeting. The Democrats removed the signs because the operator of The Jug Shop told them they had been put there without his permission. The property owner, however, had given permission to for Hall to place her signs on his property.

A simple rule of politics is that candidates should stay clear of an opponent’s signs. The purveyor of spirits at The Jug Shop thought the Hall signs should not have been on his landlord’s property. He could have removed them himself. No help from fevered partisan was required.

This story that would attract a flurry of attention in October in most Connecticut towns. Enfield, however, has long featured a fractious and intense political culture. The story will live for the next 20 days in the Enfield politics hothouse–and maybe for longer.

Despard and Hopkins did a foolish thing. Voters in Enfield who learn of it will reach their own conclusions. The immediate consequence–and danger–for Despard is that a campaign sign outrage captured on video risks energizing Hall’s team and embarrassing Despard’s.

House Democrats provided a diversion from the sign controversy with a text message to voters on Hall’s voting record on abortion. Mark Pazniokas has the story in the CT Mirror. He points out that 13 House and Senate Black and Puerto Rican Caucus members also opposed the abortion bill highlighted in the Democrats’ text sent to 59th House District voters. The text message, which no other Republican reports having landed in their district, may not have the effect House Democrats intended.

Published October 19, 2022.