Did negative tactics used by winners help cement a victory?
Incumbent Linda Thor and Jacqueline Smith won four-year seats on the Maricopa Community College Governing Board. Thor won over Shelli Boggs and Smith defeated incumbent Laurin Hendrix. They will serve as at large members of the Governing Board.
As reporter Anne Ryman wrote in her article in the Arizona Republic of November 3, this was “the most unusual [Governing Board election] in recent memory as far as campaign tactics.” The Blog agrees.
During the campaign, opponents of losing candidate Boggs sent out a campaign mailer that showed a recent photo of her wearing a red tank top, mirrored sunglasses and holding an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle. The mailer read: “Shelli Boggs couldn’t be trusted with children in a classroom. We can’t trust her on the Maricopa Community Colleges Board!” Boggs opponents also claimed she was “forced out” of her job as a cosmetology instructor over complaints she belittled and bullied students. Boggs denied the allegations.
The incumbent and loser, Laurin Hendrix, had his web site address taken over by Smith during the campaign. Smith then posted messages urging people to vote Hendrix out of office. Smith told the Arizona Republic that she was curious about Hendrix’s platform so she looked up the internet domain name www.lowertuitionnow.com advertised on his campaign signs. She said she found the domain name was available, took ownership and began posting information about Hendrix.
Hendrix told the Arizona Republic he was unaware that Smith owned the domain name he had used in the 2016 board election. Hendrix said he reused campaign signs this year from the 2016 election and was unaware the website listed on his signs hadn’t been kept active.
