One candidate running for Santa Maria City Council on Nov. 8 has been sending campaign mailers to voters that feature his opponent in altered photos that give an ominous message to residents.
“Politician Gloria Soto has ignored our requests,” one of the mailers states in capital letters underlined in red. “And her irresponsible votes have placed our children and families at risk.”
The image on the mailer, paid for by the Steven Funkhouser for City Council 2022 committee, depicts her holding a cake decorated with icing that states “Let them eat cake.” That “photo” is surrounded by mugshots of purported criminals with tattoos on their faces. In the original photo, Soto holds the same cake, but there is nothing written on it.
Another campaign mailer, paid for by the same committee, shows fellow 3rd District candidate and incumbent Santa Maria City Councilmember Soto holding up a hand-painted poster that says, “More crime, less jails.” In the original photo, Soto’s sign reads: “More schools, less jails.”
Funkhouser’s campaign committee has spent more than $12,000 in campaign consultants, literature, and mailings, according to filed documents, with $5,000 going to the Cannon Research group—a Missouri-based consulting group that provides “award-winning direct mail,” among other services, according to its website.
The group—which goes by Axiom Strategies—worked on U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz’s 2016 campaign in Texas, and its website highlights many photoshopped or altered images against other Democrats and their policies.
Funkhouser did not respond to the Sun’s multiple inquiries for comment.
“Although we support Steve [Funkhouser] and hope he does well, we’re not involved with the campaign,” the Santa Barbara County Republican Party said in a statement about the flyers and ads.
Soto said this type of campaigning is “misleading and unethical,” to Santa Maria’s voters.
“Instead of talking about the issues, or bold or innovative ideas, they [the Funkhouser campaign] are using tactics in the District 3 race where my opponent is going about photoshopping images of mine,” Soto told the Sun. “That’s really disappointing because they are eliciting fear, [and] using … crime as a tactic to get ahead in this race. I don’t feel like that is necessarily fair to the voter.”
When the two candidates were both submitting their intent to run to the City Clerk’s Office, there’s an optional Code of Fair Campaign Practices that candidates can sign to promise abiding by a set of principles within their campaigns, Soto said. The code of conduct asks each candidate to disclose their policies with fairness and sincerity, without tainting opponents—which includes defamation of opponents, whisper campaigns, libel, or slander of family members.
“The fact I know Steven Funkhouser signed this code is incredibly disappointing. If he’s not abiding by that—by something he voluntarily signed and promised—then what is he going to do when he’s elected into office?” she said.
Soto forwarded a PDF copy of Funkhouser’s Code of Campaign Practices agreement to the Sun with his signature dated on Aug. 10.
“I’ve never heard or seen [these types of campaigns] in Santa Maria. That is expected for campaigns more at the national level, but at the local level those tactics are distasteful,” Soto said. “To further add, putting the face of a woman of color in a fake mugshot is incredibly racist, sexist, and not OK. It’s one thing to criticize or question the votes I’ve taken, but it’s another thing to mischaracterize those votes.”
Soto added that as someone who’s been subjected to death threats and sexual harassment, these tactics are scary and said that there’s been moments on the campaign where she’s fearful for her own safety and well-being.
“These aren’t only being used to derail voters by misleading them but to keep people from running. It’s to keep people who challenge those systems, it’s a scare tactic,” Soto said. “Who would be encouraged to run after seeing how I’ve been treated with death threats, photoshopping, and sexual harassment?”
This article appears in Nov 3-9, 2022.
