Black Republican Candidate's Ad Vandalized with Racist Graffiti

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., July 2 (UPI) –Florida Republican congressional candidate Gloreatha “Glo” Scurry-Smith tweeted a picture of one of her campaign signs Sunday that had been subject to racist vandalism.

The vandal spray-painted Smith’s face white. Smith, who discovered the sign in Jacksonville, said she expected signs to be tampered with, but didn’t expect anything to that degree.

This is sad, but I am all for diversity. Visit http://t.co/b6jYkY7kGL. pic.twitter.com/zp4wttckva

— Glo Smith (@GloForCongress) June 29, 2014

“Throughout this entire incident, I go back to Martin Luther King’s comment that ‘we look forward to a time when people will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character,'” Smith told the National Review.

She took to her Facebook page to address the issue and thank people for their support.

“Please know that I do not know who did this, nor am I concerned with pointing fingers. It is important that we forgive and move on regardless of the person’s reason for doing this. My desire was to bring awareness, and hopeful make one think before doing something like this again,” she wrote.

Smith is running against Thuy Lowe in the GOP primary in hopes of taking on incumbent Rep. Corrine Brown, D-Fla., who did not seem concerned about the incident.

“To be talking about signs is ludicrous to me. And whatever happened was unfortunate, but I do not personally believe in campaigning months in advance,” Brown told WTEV 47.

Lowe, who will face Smith on August 26, condemned the crime.

“I was shocked by this,” she said. “There have been some comments out there that this may have been caused by bigotry. This is a message that she is an African-American woman who is a Republican and therefore has a white point of view.”