Dear Editor,

I was shocked this morning to find that someone had removed the big “Bill Noelker for KY State Representative” sign from its two stakes in my front yard and taken it away. Also, the “Jim Gray for Senator” sign was bent out of shape and crumpled up as if a small child had had a temper tantrum. But clearly this was the work of someone older who ought to know better than to violate my rights and property. This illegal act seems a thuggish reaction to the nasty verbal garbage of this campaign season — inviting and inciting people to take the law into their own hands. This will not silence me.

Bill Noelker has strong leadership experience and a history of service to this country and to this community. He has talked to a lot to people all over Boyle and Casey County and listened to what they need. He will go to Frankfort and represent all the citizens of the 54th District with an independent voice.

Our democracy works best when parties focus on negotiating what is best for Kentucky, solving the problems we have instead of rubber-stamping a partisan agenda.

On the national scene, we have seen the gridlock that results when one party becomes so against government that they simply obstruct. Jim Gray is a businessman who, as mayor of Lexington, has shown his ability to lead a large local government and get it to solve problems.

Opposing ads, funded by endless amounts of out-of-state money, try to make him sound like a Clinton lackey. On the contrary, he is clearly his own man and will go to Washington to make things work. We need change in Washington but we need to go forward, not backward, adjusting to our fast-moving world. We need Jim Gray working for Kentucky in the U.S. Senate.

Friends, neighbors, please join me in voting for Democrats Bill Noelker and Jim Gray next Tuesday.

Margaret Gardiner

Danville