MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Tennessee State Rep. Curry Todd is responding to accusations by a primary challenger, that Todd’s been stealing campaign signs. His opponent, Mark Lovell said he has video proof. WREG spoke to Lovell about the alleged thefts on Tuesday. On Wednesday Todd shared his side of the story.
The campaign signs were removed outside of Porter Farms off East Winchester. According to the city of Collierville, the signs are here legally on private property. That’s where things get tricky, Representative Todd said he has every right for his signs to be there and that he has permission, but Mark Lovell’s signs are there too and Curry says that’s why he took action.
“I have nothing to hide on this,” explained Todd.
Todd wanted to tell his side of the story after shaky cell phone video of him snatching his opponent’s campaign signs was released.
“He does not have the right to go out and pull my signs,” Lovell told WREG on Tuesday.
However if you ask Todd, he’ll disagree. Todd doesn’t deny that’s him in the video. He said if he was trying to be sneaky he wouldn’t have yanked the signs in broad daylight. He claims he has permission from developers in Germantown and Collierville to promote his campaign and only his.
“They said you have permission to take them down, my employees take them down or anybody else can take them down,” he said.
WREG called the property owner listed for Porter Farms. The woman who answered said she’s one of several partners who have a stake in the property. She said she never gave Todd permission to advertise but said it’s likely one of her partners did. She would not elaborate.
Lovell’s office claims Todd has targeted their signs before, but Todd disagrees. Todd said he’s had campaign signs stolen too throughout the election.
The back and forth he said, he said could ultimately result in more than a tarnished reputation. The District Attorney’s Office said stealing signs is a misdemeanor, which could result in a $50 to $500 fine or nearly a year in jail.
The DA’s Office said there is an investigation into current sign theft allegations.
