WILMINGTON — Another controversy over campaign ads in the District 7 North Carolina Senate race came to the forefront Tuesday.
Republican incumbent Michael Lee has called for signs and cardboard cutouts of him to be removed in the region and for his Democratic opponent, Jessica Bichler, and New Hanover County Democratic Chair Jill Hopman to denounce what he deems as vandalism and false accusations of special interest ties.
Signs that are 18-by-6-feet appeared on the side of a local business, indicating: “Mike Lee backed polluters, now you pay for bottled water.” Another is mimicking a Poland Springs logo, noting “Tapped out spring: Mike Lee backs polluters, you buy the water.” The group behind it is Clean Politics, Clean Water NC and has no social media presence and doesn’t announce political affiliation in its messaging; it also doesn’t have campaign finance records. There is a website, though it only shows the posters and cut-outs of Michael Lee holding cash and wearing a shirt displaying: “I ♥ Special Interest.”
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Lee denies both claims.
“The claim that I ‘back polluters’ is false, and so is the suggestion that I was paid for my votes,” Lee wrote in an email to Port City Daily Tuesday. “I am glad to walk through any vote I have cast. But that debate belongs in the open, not glued to someone’s building.”
Black Cat Halloween, which opened at 806 S. College Road, has become an unwilling participant in the political storm.
The building previously abutted the New Hanover County GOP headquarters before it moved locations two weeks ago. Business owner Matt Wright explained the vandalism took place sometime on Monday between 3 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. and suspects his previous neighbors were why his building was chosen.
“I don’t really follow the politics here in Wilmington,” Wright said. “I probably should, but I live in Emerald Isle. I’m just responsible to make sure this property’s taken care of.”
While Wright does not plan to press charges as of Tuesday, he said he has reached out to the Wilmington Police Department to report the vandalism in case he later needs the evidence. Wright posted the incident on social media in an effort to find members from the group Clean Politics, Clean Water NC to clean the building. He’s tried to remove the posters himself, but it’s difficult due to the adhesive.
Wright noted his security camera outside the building picked up two people and he was able to post a license plate tag to locate one of them.
“I wanna give them the opportunity to come fix it because that’ll stick with them,” he said, adding he worked for 22 years in federal law enforcement. “Something as small as this will still be on their record.”
Wright said by Tuesday midday he had not heard from the group and estimated the cost of removal to be $250, depending on damage to the wall.
Aside from the ads plastered onto Black Cat Halloween, other campaign materials that Clean Politics, Clean Water NC have sponsored includes cardboard cutouts of Lee in an “I ♥ Special Interest” tee, while holding a pile of money in one hand and a water bottle labeled “tapped out spring” in the other.
The cutout also depicts Lee wetting himself.
Index-card-sized flyers also have been printed and placed in front of water bottles in grocery stores, including Harris Teeter, according to photos circulating online. Lee called them “fake labels” with the message: “Mike Lee’s special interest special. Polluters get away with it! Now you pay to drink your water!”
Lee said the advertisements are spreading lies about his clean water record and suggesting he takes bribes.
Constituents have called out Lee for campaign donations from varied groups and company CEOs, whether Duke Energy, developers — Cape Fear Development, Adam Sosne of McAdams Homes, and Landon Zimmer of Zimmer Development Company — or others.
“Contributions are public and reported exactly as the law requires,” he told Port City Daily. “Thousands of people and businesses support my campaigns, and none of them buys a vote. My votes are on the record, and I will defend every one on the merits. There is a big difference between asking about donors, which is fair game, and putting up signs that show me pocketing cash, which accuses me of a crime with no evidence.”
In defending his voting record, Lee referred to Port City Daily’s candidate questionnaire, submitted to the outlet a few weeks ago, wherein all candidates were asked: What will you do to hold industry accountable for pollution of our water, such as PFAS and 1,4 dioxane, and do you support enforcing maximum contaminant levels for PFAS compounds besides PFOA and PFOS?
Lee responded he has a record of introducing and passing several Water Safety Acts since 2018. They funded statewide testing, research, replacement water for affected communities and other remedies.
In a new Water Safety Act bill presented in the spring, Lee said he wanted to also include maximum contaminant levels and enforce PFAS discharge from industries in the state, but it never gained traction. Parts of the bill’s language ended up in the state budget and primarily focused on financing research, studies and relief funds.
Lee told Port City Daily in September, during the North Carolina Attorney General’s press conference about the PFAS settlement, the senator plans to reintroduce maximum contaminant levels in future water safety bills, should he get re-elected. He emphasized he wanted to instate numerical limits in years before, but came upon roadblocks with his legislative colleagues.
On Tuesday, Lee also addressed the life-size cardboard cutout, stating it mocked him in a “crude and degrading way.” He called out the Democratic Party for rooting for it, specifically pointing to New Hanover County Democratic Party Chair Jill Hopman.
Lee pinpointed her social media post about the guerilla-style ads, noting she “cheered it on.” While he clarified he did not mean she was promoting vandalism, Lee said she championed the campaign, despite it breaking the law.
Hopman posted images online of the posters, cardboard cutouts and labels.
“I’d like to know who the helpful genius behind this is and ask them to please keep randomly putting signs around town? Thanks in advance,” she wrote.
After press, Hopman responded to Port City Daily’s inquiries, noting Clean Politics, Clean Water NC was not affiliated with the New Hanover County Democratic Party. She also agreed political messages should not be forced on businesses unless the property owners and businesses have agreed to them.
“That said, we would welcome this same outrage aimed at Chemours,” Hopman wrote about the company that dumped PFAS in the Cape Fear River for decades and polluted the area’s drinking water. “Clean water isn’t a slogan on a sign — it’s a public voting record and voters should look closely at Senator Lee’s.”
The state Democratic Party chair, Anderson Clayton, also gave a statement.
“It’s a fact that Lee has failed to protect our water, and he’s cozied up to special interests after accepting hundreds of thousands from them in campaign contributions,” Clayton said. “As for the peeing of his pants in the ad, I obviously can’t speak to that.”
Lee called for his Democratic opponent Jessica Bichler to “disavow” the materials, false accusations and condemn the vandalization of the Black Cat Halloween store. Bichler said she was unaware of Lee’s request around noon Tuesday, as she was teaching a class all morning.
However, she provided a statement to Port City Daily by early evening.
“I completely denounce the vandalism that took place at Black Cat Halloween, and unlike my opponent, I’ve always been against AI-generated advertisements,” Bichler wrote.
This is not the first time Lee and Bichler have gone head-to-head over campaign advertisements. Hopman pointed it out in her response: “He is no stranger to launching his own questionable attack ads, and the NHCDP condemns both political vandalism and hypocrisy.”
In August, Bichler’s team sent Lee a cease-and-desist letter over an AI-generated ad and pamphlets mailed to New Hanover County residents. The video ad features an AI-generated “bonkers” Bichler in various yoga poses — Bichler is co-owner of Wilmington Yoga Center.
The ad’s voiceover said Bichler’s campaign was supported by “groups that want to defund the police, let criminals walk free and provide free healthcare to illegal immigrants.” It also denoted Bichler was endorsed by and received financial support from the American Friends Service Committee.
Bichler denies receiving funding or an endorsement from the committee.
Lee told Port City Daily the ad never says the AFSC gave Bichler money, rather pointed to public records showing “her campaign launch event page was published through the AFSC’s online account.”
Once Lee’s campaign became aware the AFSC page was taken offline, he said they stopped referring to it in advertisements. The rest of the ad has continued to run unchanged.
When asked how the posters and cardboard cutouts against him differ from his ads against Bichler, Lee said satire is often used in political ads and he wasn’t complaining about being made of. Thus, it wasn’t in the tone of the ads but the law.
“These cutouts were placed illegally at more than 40 locations, and the posters were glued to private businesses without permission,” he said. “Owners now have to pay to have them removed, and at least two police reports have been filed that we know of. Mock me all you want. Just don’t break the law or damage someone’s property to do it.”
[Ed. note: The piece was updated after press to include NHC Democratic Party Chair Jill Hopman’s response.]
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