Central Bucks election signs saying ‘Groom dogs not kids!’ are one of many that Dems want taken down

The Bucks County Democratic Committee is asking a court to authorize the removal of campaign signs in the Central Bucks School District that call Democrats “groomers” and accuse “radical” Democratic candidates of bringing “chaos” to the district.

The signs are “defamatory,” according to the Democrats’ chair, State Sen. Steve Santarsiero — but that’s not the reason the party filed an emergency motion Wednesday in the Bucks County Court of Common Pleas seeking an injunction.

The issue: “They all violate state law,” Santarsiero said. Some particularly large signs — stating one Democratic candidate “supports defund the police & Marxist BLM,” and another “supports sexually graphic books for minors” and “won’t protect girls’ sports/safe spaces!” — don’t include any language about who authorized or paid for them.

Pennsylvania law requires that any advertisement that “expressly advocates the election or defeat of a candidate” must contain a disclaimer that clearly states who paid for it.

Meanwhile, other signs put up in the district — including one that reads “Hey Democrats! Groom dogs not kids! Schools teach academics not porn” — have small stickers saying “PAID FOR BY: LetsGoBrandon.com.”

The site for “Let’s Go Brandon” — a slogan for a profane phrase aimed at President Joe Biden — advertises a cryptocurrency it calls “America’s Free Speech Coin.”

The sticker is “obviously not a legitimate disclaimer,” Santarsiero said. (In an email, the Miami hedge fund manager associated with the meme coin, James Koutoulas, said a reporter’s question was “first I’ve heard” of the Central Bucks signs, adding that “the letsgobrandon.com foundation didn’t pay for them but they sound funny and on brand.”)

According to Central Bucks residents, the signs sprouted up over the weekend — inflaming an already bitter battle ahead of the Nov. 7 elections, which have focused on culture-war issues and personal attacks as Republicans and Democrats square off for five school board seats.

“They were vile,” said Lisa Horst, a parent and Democrat in the district. Noting that some of the signs were put up near schools, Horst said that “our kids shouldn’t be seeing this language, driving by every day.”

To Horst, the “aggressiveness, and the level of defamatory statements” were disturbing, even in a district that has been at the center of intense political debate since the pandemic.

Horst called the Bucks County Board of Elections on Monday to complain about the signs, and “they said they were getting calls all day.”

Jim O’Malley, a spokesperson for the county, said the board of elections “did receive a number of complaints” about the signs, and “did relay the concerns to the political parties.”

The executive director of the Bucks County Republican Committee, Phil Mironov, said the party didn’t have any role.

“We don’t know who put those up,” Mironov said. “Obviously, they’re not ours.”

Paul Martino, a Central Bucks father and GOP donor who spent $500,000 on Pennsylvania school board races in 2021, and is backing the Central Bucks Republican candidates — including his wife, Aarati Martino — in this year’s races, posted on social media that he had nothing to do with the signs.

“I was just as surprised as you all when I saw them yesterday morning,” Martino wrote Sunday on Facebook. Still, he said, they were an indication that “grassroots” people had been activated, “which is good for all of us.” (But, Martino said, he would have “NEVER” put out the “grooming” sign, saying “this messaging is dangerous and it plays into stereotypes the left likes to use about us.”)

The signs aren’t the only campaign attack that has drawn outrage from community members recently. In late August, a political action committee sent mailers to thousands of homes with a cartoon depicting oral sex, and a line drawing of a penis — images taken from Gender Queer and This Book Is Gay, both banned from Central Bucks libraries under a policy passed last year by the Republican-led school board.

“Extreme Central Bucks Democrats are fighting to keep these books in our middle school and high school libraries,” said the mailers, sent by Stop Bucks Extremism — which promised to continue highlighting the “disgusting” positions of the Democratic candidates.

The GOP operative behind the PAC, Bob Salera, told Fox Business last week that he was “banned” from Staples, where he had an online mailbox that served as the return address for Stop Bucks Extremism’s mailers.

According to Fox, Salera said he was told by Staples that “many people” complained because they were “highly upset” about the content of the mailers.

(Martino recently disclosed that he had given Salera a “seed check to get his new PAC off the ground.”)

The signs Democrats are seeking to take down publicize key Republican points of attack on the Democratic candidates — including accusing Rick Haring of bringing a “fraudulent lawsuit” that will result in a “50% tax increase.” Actually, it’s his wife, a teacher in Central Bucks, who has sued over pay equity.

The district’s lawyer said during a recent school board meeting that a settlement demand from 360 teachers would require that level of increase, though Democrats have pointed out that Pennsylvania’s Act 1 index limits property tax increases — this year, to 4.1%.

Central Bucks Forward, the slate of Republican candidates, didn’t respond to a request for comment on the signs.

Diana Leygerman, a volunteer for Central Bucks Neighbors United, the slate of Democratic candidates, said the signs were “coming from people who are losing.” She added that Democrats believe their opponents are also stealing their signs, and have started placing AirTags on some of them to track their movement; on Tuesday night, they traced one heading to South Philadelphia.

Santarsiero said Democrats are seeking court approval to remove the signs not just now, but in the event they reappear before or on Election Day.

“I want to be sure we have a court order clear to law enforcement,” he said.