By Pat Biancaniello
An unanticipated snafu in the town council race has some Smithtown Democrats riled up. Specifically, the issue is the wording on town council candidate Tom Lohmann’s lawn signs, which according to Tom Lohmann, was a mistake. Lohmann’s signs inform residents that they should re-elect Lohmann who has never been elected. Lohmann was appointed by the Republican town board to his position on the board to fill a vacancy that resulted when Ed Wehrheim became town supervisor.
Candidate Amy Fortunato gave Smithtown Matters the following statement: “Obviously, signs don’t vote. Lawn signs or any other political advertisements are intended to inform voters, not to deceive. It’s a logical impossibility to re-elect someone who wasn’t elected in the first place. It’s clearly misstating the will of Smithtown voters. It’s pretty clear that the intent of these lawn signs is to mislead voters into thinking that my opponent was ever elected in the first place. The truth is Mr. Lohmann came in last place in the 2017 election with the fewest number of votes of all the six candidates. For someone who was never elected to office to advertise for ‘re-election’ is a blatant mistruth and conveys to voters the false impression of legitimacy. It’s a strong reminder of our need for integrity, transparency and ethics by those who serve in public office.”
Sounding a little frustrated in a phone conversation Tom Lohmann said that the signs cost over $700 and that they would remain. He emphatically denied that he was trying to mislead voters. Saying that he did not personally order the lawn signs, he stated “the Re-Elect should have been removed, it was a mistake. When I am out campaigning I tell everyone that I was appointed.”
Lawn signs are used by candidates to increase name recognition and when posted at a residence it signals support. The effectiveness of lawn signs on the voting public is debatable. A study of the impact of lawn signage on a political campaings from 2015 shows mixed results with a small impact on influencing elections.