Proving yet again that Democrats seem to lack all scruples, a Democratic state representative in Hawaii was caught red-handed stealing his opponent’s campaign handout off a person’s door.
Rep. Matt LoPresti was caught on a doorbell security camera stealing a campaign flier of his primary opponent, Alicia Maluafiti. LoPresti is running for the state Senate seat vacated by Will Espero, who’s running for lieutenant governor, according to Hawaii News Now.
The video was released just one day before the primary election. Watch below.
Just a day before the primary election, a video is making the rounds online that shows state Rep. Matt LoPresti stealing his opponent’s campaign handout off of a resident’s door. https://t.co/JsIXUTiUkQ #HINews pic.twitter.com/MQudIUtYHY
— Hawaii News Now (@HawaiiNewsNow) August 10, 2018
But LoPresti didn’t steal just one flier. Following the release of the footage, he issued a statement in which he admitted to stealing multiple fliers. However, he claimed without presenting any evidence that he returned the stolen fliers “that very same day”:
“Political campaigns can be intense and emotions can cloud otherwise good judgment of even the best people,” LoPresti said, in the statement. “I sincerely apologize and have deep regret over my having taken some of those flyers.”
“What this video does not show, however, is that very same day I returned flyers that were taken.
“I am grateful for the opportunity to come clean and admit my own failures and promise to my family, my friends, my opponent and my community to keep on the high road in the future no matter how negative a campaign gets or how clouded my emotions become.”
However, the footage of LoPresti’s reprehensible actions came too little, too late: he went on to win the primary election with an overwhelming 61.4 percent of the vote. He’ll face Republican Kurt Fevella in the general election in November, and while Fevella will undoubtedly make LoPresti’s thievery a sticking point in his campaign, it likely won’t matter in deep-blue Hawaii.
Unfortunately, the stealing of campaign materials is becoming more and more common. Just last week, a Republican running for a seat in Florida’s House of Representatives was caught on video stealing door hangers by a staffer of his opponent. Last month, New York state Rep. Tom Reed (R) got so fed up with his campaign signs being stolen that he implanted a GPS tracking device in one of them. It was subsequently stolen by a Democrat activist.
In other words, if you want to help identify crooked politicians and candidates, install a doorbell camera.
