While U.S. congressional candidate Tom Guild has apologized for sabotaging the signs of opponent Kendra Horn, surveillance video of Guild’s actions has surfaced.
Posted above, the video shows a glove-wearing Guild pop out of a sports car and saunter east along N.W. 39th Street toward Classen Boulevard in Oklahoma City, removing bag-style signs from their metal frames as he goes. He casually drops the signs as he walks north, only to return and retrieve them.
Guild has run for Oklahoma’s 5th Congressional District each election since 2010. He faces Horn, Elysabeth Britt, Leona Kelley-Leonard, Tyson Meade and Ed Porter in Tuesday’s democratic primary election.
Oklahoma City Public Schools Board member Mark Mann, a longtime Democratic politico, first noticed Guild taking down Horn signs about 1 p.m. Monday while Mann was stopped in his car at the corner of N.W. 39th Street and Classen Boulevard. He posted photos on Facebook and said he believed it to be Guild.
Later in the afternoon, Guild confirmed he was the one taking down Horn signs to The Oklahoman’s Justin Wingerter, saying:
Sometimes, in the heat and rush of a campaign, mistakes are made. On reflection, removing some of my opponent’s signs — for any reason — was a mistake on my part for which I sincerely apologize. There are very important issues at stake in this election, and I urge everyone who has not yet done so to get out tomorrow and vote.
The surveillance video was taken from an office building on Classen Boulevard that houses Freedom Oklahoma and Women Lead Oklahoma, an organization Horn founded.
Horn: ‘It’s about education and making health care affordable’
In Wingerter’s story about the situation, Horn provided a statement that began: “This election isn’t about yard signs.”
“It’s about education and making health care affordable, but voters should hold candidates accountable when it comes to values and ethics as well,” Horn’s statement said. “I’m calling on my supporters to focus on talking to their friends and family about our campaign and the issues that matter most to them.”
Polls open at 7 a.m. Tuesday for Oklahoma primary elections and will remain open until 7 p.m. Voters can check to confirm their polling location at the Oklahoma State Election Board’s website.
(Correction: This post was updated at 12:22 a.m. Tuesday, June 26, to clarify the exact location of the incident.)