DuPont’s mayoral race has left people of the small town divided, full of distrust and disappointed.
Mudslinging in the past few months includes targeted, anonymous political ads, scurrilous accusations and several chastising Facebook pages and blog sites.
“There are such horrible divisions,” resident and real estate agent Amy Frazier said. “DuPont has never been like this. To see some of the stuff on social media that is so mean, so hateful — it’s creating divisions between people who were good friends.”
Courts attracted a challenger this election cycle in Ron Frederick, a Navy veteran turned ethics professor. Frederick won 62 percent of the vote in the August primary.
Since then, residents and invested outsiders have taken to the internet to champion their candidate and criticize the other.
Many of the attacks have been against Frederick. He said his critics have used “alternative facts” in an attempt to smear him.
“They are throwing mud at the wall and seeing what sticks,” he said. “The fake pages and fake ads are taking things out of context and twisting them, and the lie is the partial truth, you know? We’ve done our best to ignore it.”
Courts said the attacks haven’t come from anyone associated with his campaign, and he has denounced one of the Facebook pages, “Families Fighting for DuPont.”
“Although the site targets my opponent, it does so in a manner that is inappropriate and does not reflect my values or intent,” the mayor said in a Facebook post.
Social media attacks
Anonymous blogs and Facebook pages accuse Frederick and his supporters of being a part of the far left.
At one point, the town’s Wikipedia site was edited to include: “This year mayoral elections in DuPont, WA has two candidates running for the seat: current mayor Michael Courts (non-partisan), vs far leftist Rob Frederick.”
One resident, Mike Brown, said his Facebook photo was used in “DuPont Fighting Back” ads without his permission.
One of those ads questioned whether Brown is in fact a West Point graduate and called him a far leftist. A second ad took a photo of him running with a “Ron Frederick For Mayor” T-shirt and referenced a Facebook comment Brown had made. The ad claimed he was “making jokes about being Jewish.”
“This was twisted to make me seem like an anti-Semite because I’m supporting Ron Frederick,” Brown said. “I haven’t done anything wrong. I’ve just supported someone I think is a good candidate. It’s not something that I think I deserve. It’s a disappointment.”
Neither of the ads included disclaimers required of any political ad by the Federal Election Commission and were taken down by Facebook after a few days.
A candidate for DuPont City Council, Lee Chase, has endorsed Frederick and faced online attacks. He worries about potential ramifications beyond berating posts on social media.
“You wonder in this day and age when the individual will go off the deep end, and so I wondered how far are they going with their rants?” Chase said. “Would (they) go a step farther when (they) don’t get the reaction (they) wanted?”
Frederick said he understands he signed up for attacks as a candidate, but his supporters did not.
“I’m not too worried about someone attacking me. I’m running for office. But it disturbs me the attacks they make upon my supporters,” Frederick said. “They are just supporting me. Some people have had their employers contacted, and that’s beyond the pale.”
Campaign signs for incumbent Mike Courts and challenger Ron Frederick are seen along a road in DuPont, Oct. 19, 2019. Joshua Bessex Joshua.bessex@gmail.com
‘Stick to the issues’
Courts has been on the receiving end as well.
Frederick supporters have published pointed, accusing comments on the mayor’s re-election Facebook page.
“Whether you want to admit being in on this or not is up to you but I find it pretty obvious that when someone comments on your re-elect page we suddenly become the next target on his Facebook pages and blogs,” one read. “Thanks for the free Ron publicity!”
Courts said social media is ugly. He has gotten calls from people on both sides about targeted provocations. Attacks on him and his supporters have been done in private Facebook groups, the mayor added.
“Some people get outrageous in those threads. I’ve asked people to take their fight elsewhere,” Courts said. “I think social media has allowed people to sit behind a screen and say things they would never say in person. People no longer have any compulsion about what they say.”
Courts said his campaign is focused on his work developing the city, bolstering the police department and preserving the city’s trails.
“I would prefer people stick to the issues. I am running on my record. I am happy with that,” he said. “I’m not on any of those pages.”
Facebook as a weapon
A marketplace and event website, “Discover DuPont,” raises money for the town’s Hudson’s Bay Heritage Days and the annual Chili Cookoff, according to the site. It, too, has been roped into the bitterness.
A man who contends he is a “20 year Special Forces Green Beret and Airborne Ranger turned publisher and reporter” has written articles published on “Discover DuPont” that received backlash from Frederick supporters for claiming that allegations of misconduct against Courts are false.
Maestas, who also owns Maestro Strategic Solution, an advertising company that offers “Guerilla Marketing Experts,” said he has no ties to either candidate, that he just wrote a series of articles about the mayoral election.
He declined to respond to further questions.
Courts said he has met Maestas once and that claims Maestas is involved in the social media attacks are false. The mayor called him and confronted Maestas after complaints from citizens, and he denied any involvement, Courts said. Maestas told the mayor his Facebook account had been “cloned” and that he has been working with Facebook to get to the bottom of it.
A former state Representative also has joined the fray. Dick Muri, who compiles an email list of election endorsements call “Dick’s Picks,” has backed Courts.
Muri and several of the Facebook pages attacking Frederick mention personal online posts Frederick made before announcing his candidacy. One of the posts linked to an article in The Guardian titled, “’Fox News brain’: meet the families torn apart by toxic cable news.”
“It’s one thing to be anti-Trump or anti-Republican, but it’s another to say that Republicans are stupid,” Muri told The News Tribune.
Frederick’s posts have since been deleted. Frederick said he doesn’t mind if people know that he isn’t a fan of President Trump.
It’s all taking a toll, said Frazier, the real estate agent.
She recommends DuPont to many of her clients because of its good schools and sense of community. She questions whether she can continue to advocate for her town if the division continues.
“I don’t want my vision of the city to change that much to where I change my viewpoints,” Frazier said. “I’m anxious for it to end, and I hope when it does we can go back to where we were before.”
This story was originally published October 25, 2019 at 6:00 AM.
