Dozens of campaign signs have been reported damaged or stolen by three of the Anchorage mayoral candidates, as the campaigns enter their final weeks.
Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson’s reelection campaign filed a report with the Anchorage Police Department this week after at least 33 of their signs were vandalized or damaged.
“These acts of destruction not only damage private property, but undermine the democratic values that Anchorage voters expect and deserve,” Bronson’s campaign said in a statement.
The statement from the Bronson campaign described some of the vandalism as “pro-Hamas comments” in reference to the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict.
A spokesman for the Bronson campaign shared photos of many damaged signs showing messages like “Zionist,” “Dave Bronson 4 Genocide” and “All Eyes on Rafah.”
“My campaign signs are apparently being vandalized for my support of Israel,” Bronson said in a statement. “So be it. I stand in solidarity with the people of Israel.”
In a statement, the campaign said they are “aware of social media posts identifying the alleged perpetrator’s vehicle and identity,” but the campaign won’t comment until APD wraps up its investigation.
In an email, an APD spokeswoman said as of Friday, no charges have been filed in connection with the vandalism.
Bronson isn’t the only mayoral candidate to report damaged signs. Suzanne LaFrance’s campaign says they’ve received reports of more than a dozen damaged or stolen signs, most of which were large 4 feet by 8 feet signs.
John-Henry Heckendorn, husband of LaFrance campaign manager Katie Scovic, said he and several of his neighbors have had campaign signs damaged at their homes.
“Initially, someone came by and painted over the word ‘Suzanne’ with, like white spray paint,” Heckendorn said. “And then I think they decided that wasn’t effective enough, because you could still see ‘LaFrance For Mayor.’ So they came back and creased the sign, then folded the sign over. And I think a couple of times, they’ve just dumped trash all over our signs and sidewalk.”
Heckendorn, who’s worked on many Alaska political campaigns, said he’s noticed an increase in Anchorage sign vandalism since 2021, which he attributed to rising tensions related to the COVID-19 pandemic and mask mandates. He said his neighbors have expressed safety concerns.
“I care a lot less about the quality of the sign that’s up at our house, and more just about the fact that someone’s coming to our house repeatedly damaging our property, throwing trash everywhere,” Heckendorn said. “I mean, we’ve had neighbors talking about feeling less safe.”
In a statement, LaFrance condemned the vandalism, saying, “This is part of a pattern of sign vandalism in our community, and of our streets feeling less safe for people living here.”
Bill Popp says his campaign has reported one sign that was taken down and smashed, and two more lost due to heavy winds. Popp also condemned the damage done to his signs, as well as signs of his fellow candidates.
“It’s not the way our city should be acting,” Popp said. “You know, it’s pretty petty.”
Ballots for the Anchorage municipal election went out this week. The election will be held on April 2.
Disclosure: Bill Popp is a former chair of the Alaska Public Media Board of Directors.
Learn more about where the candidates for Anchorage mayor and school board stand with our comparison tool, and watch the top four mayoral candidates face off in our debate, which aired live on March 21. For more coverage visit alaskapublic.org/elections.
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Wesley Early covers Anchorage life and city politics for Alaska Public Media. Reach him at wearly@alaskapublic.org and follow him on X at @wesley_early. Read more about Wesley here.
