In a completely predictable story from North Carolina, a Democratic official, the chair of the county party, resigned in shame in the weeks leading up to the November 2024 election after the local sheriff’s office discovered that he had stolen Trump 2024 campaign signs from lawns.
For comparison, Lowell Simon was the previous chair of the Moore County Democratic Party. He was running as a Democrat for the North Carolina House at the time of his arrest and the sign-stealing incident, but he resigned from the race after being charged with two counts of misdemeanor larceny of political signs.
In a post titled “Arrest Made Following Campaign Sign Thefts,” the Moore County Sheriff’s Office made the arrest public in the middle of October. The amusing post claims that Simon was caught the following day when a warrant was issued for his arrest in relation to the stolen posters after a deputy responding to another call saw him taking down campaign billboards.
First, the sheriff’s office explained how local law police apprehended Simon. “A sheriff’s deputy working in the West End area observed Lowell Simon removing campaign signs from the roadside along Seven Lakes Drive on October 10, 2024, at approximately 5:25 PM,” the statement read. The indicators were discovered in Simon’s car when the deputy, who was at the time attending to an unrelated case, later followed up at his home. Simon acknowledged taking down the signs, which were later found and given back to their original owner.
“A warrant for Simon’s arrest was issued this morning in connection with the stolen signs,” it said, adding that he was facing two criminal charges related to the theft. After being charged with two counts of misdemeanor larceny of political signs, Lowell Evan Simon, 68, of West End, North Carolina, was released with a written commitment to appear in court. Simon is expected to appear in Moore County District Court for the first time on October 30, 2024.
“Sheriff Ronnie Fields reminds the public that the removal or theft of campaign signs is a violation of North Carolina General Statute § 136-32(e), which protects the lawful placement of these signs during election periods,” the announcement from the sheriff’s office concluded, outlining the specific law he had broken by stealing the signs.
In response to the scandal, Mr. Simon resigned, the Moore County Democratic Party said in another Facebook post a few days later on October 14. The statement opened with the following: “The Moore County Democratic Party announces that Lowell Simon has resigned from his position as Chair in light of recent accusations and his arrest for political sign theft. The Moore County Democratic Party cannot and will not support the tampering of political signs or any other unlawful action, even though we value the effort and commitment he has made to the Democratic Party and the community.
