Port St. Lucie police investigate campaign sign disputes involving mayoral candidates
Police in Port St. Lucie are investigating two incidents involving mayoral campaign signs being removed or tampered with, as both candidates deny wrongdoing.
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. —
Police in Port St. Lucie are investigating two separate incidents involving mayoral campaign signs being removed or tampered with, occurring two days apart and about a mile from each other.
Surveillance footage shows a woman removing one of Mayor Shannon Martin’s campaign signs on SW Thanksgiving Avenue on Wednesday night. Police say the footage also shows one of Martin’s opponents, Steven Giordano, at the scene.
“If I would have touched another sign, I would have been in handcuffs last night,” Giordano said.
Giordano stated that the homeowner had given his volunteer permission to remove the sign.
Another incident occurred early Friday morning on SW Thornhill Drive, where Giordano said he witnessed someone vandalizing his campaign sign.
“I saw — I didn’t know who it was at the time — grab my sign and vandalize multiple times,” Giordano said.
Police later identified the individual as Aaron Martin, the mayor’s husband and a lieutenant with the Port St. Lucie Police Department. Officers said homeowners had separately granted permission for campaign signs to be placed on the property, and a language barrier may have caused confusion about the signs.
On Friday evening, Shannon Martin addressed the incidents on social media, stating that she was aware of recent incidents involving the unauthorized removal of her campaign signs over several days.
She said some of her signs had been taken down without permission and replaced with Mr. Giordano’s signage.
“At no time did my husband steal Mr. Giordano’s sign nor did he damage or vandalize it. The sign remained at the location. Nevertheless, Mr. Giordano contacted law enforcement and has characterized these actions as burglary and vandalism. His allegations are completely false,” Martin said in a post.
Police emphasized that the fact that the mayor’s husband is a lieutenant will not affect the investigation.
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