St. George • Police in St. George are investigating a citywide vandalism spree that resulted in damage and alterations to all of incumbent City Council member Dannielle Larkin’s large campaign signs.
St. George police officer Tiffany Mitchell said investigators are trying to determine who is responsible for damaging and altering 10 of Larkin’s campaign signs.
“They are looking at [video] footage from some of these … businesses where the damage was done,” Mitchell said. “So we are hoping to draw some information from that.”
Larkin said the signs, which cost $125 apiece, were located at Stephen Wade, Ace Hardware and other businesses throughout town. At each location, someone taped a smaller sign to the large placards, which alleged the incumbent “supports ‘all-ages’ drag shows in public spaces.”
This followed Post-it notes being affixed to the windows of hundreds of cars parked at Smith’s Food and Drug and Lin’s supermarkets, doctors’ offices and other businesses that read: “Councilwoman Larkin voted yes to drag shows in our community.”
Post-it notes were affixed to the windows of hundreds of cars parked at Smith’s Food and Drug and Lin’s supermarkets, doctors’ offices and other businesses that read: “Councilwoman Larkin voted yes to drag shows in our community.”
Larkin, who tallied the most votes in the Sept. 5 primary and is seeking reelection to a second term, said she has no idea who is behind the effort to vandalize her signs and sabotage her campaign. She said the info affixed to her signs and notes attached to car windows are as inaccurate as they are offensive.
“They are basically saying that because I support the LGBTQ community, I support drag shows being held in front of children in our parks,” she said. “The reality is [elected officials] in St. George have never voted on whether or not to allow drag shows in our parks. We don’t choose the content of events that can be in our parks but we do vote on whether or not to apply our city codes [governing events] evenly.”
Drag shows, especially those staged in city spaces, have divided St. George elected officials over the past 18 months. In October 2022, for example, then-City Manager Adam Lenhard was ousted for refusing to comply with a council directive to cancel the HBO “We’re Here” drag show at a municipal park. To avoid a wrongful determination suit, city officials later awarded him a confidential $625,000 settlement.
The latest skirmish in the city’s ongoing culture war against drag happened last spring when the council upheld the denial of Southern Utah Drag Stars’ application to have a drag show at a municipal park. In doing so, the council cited an advertising restriction that bans applicants from advertising special events until receiving final approval and a permit from the city.
Larkin opposed the move and the use of the advertising prohibition, which she said had never been enforced previously and was discriminatory. But the majority of the council voted to uphold the rejection. That prompted Southern Utah Drag Stars to sue the city and municipal leaders for allegedly violating its constitutional rights. Earlier this month, U.S. District Judge David Nuffer put the lawsuit on hold to allow both sides in the dispute more time to negotiate a settlement.
Larkin is one of many who believe the contention on the council over drag and other cultural war issues have spilled over into the elections. St. George Planning Commissioner Steve Kemp, who is also running for a seat on the City Council, concurs with her assessment.
“The nastiness that we have seen in this campaign is above and beyond anything we have ever seen before,” said Kemp, who attributes the problem to the “level of dysfunction” on the council and the inability of some of its members to get things done. “It’s making everybody crazy,” he said.
Whatever the cause of the turmoil, St. George Mayor Michele Randall said there is no excuse for vandalism and spreading misinformation.
“These kinds of campaign tactics don’t belong in our community,” she posted on her Facebook page. “I’ve never seen an uglier campaign. Instead of vandalizing and littering, do something productive … We are better than this.”
Removing, altering, defacing or vandalizing campaign signs is a class B misdemeanor, according to Mitchell.
