Virginia legislator Todd Gilbert (R-Woodstock) not only stole campaign material from his opponent on Friday, he also had the hubris to brag about the achievement on his Facebook fan page.
"My opponent is dropping a negative mail piece in the mail in the morning...No need to worry about how we got a picture of it in advance" reads Gilbert's fan page above a photograph of his opponent's mailer. The picture was posted before the mailer was delivered to a single home.
While the idea of a candidate bragging on his Facebook page about his unethical escapades is a little funny at first (ok, it's hilarious), there may be more serious implications. Specifically, Virginia Democrats are worried that critical microtargeting data may have been compromised, both for Gilbert's opponent, John Lesinski and for other Democratic candidates in Virginia.
The mailers were at a mail house for about 24 hours while being addressed. Then, just a few short hours before Gilbert posted the mailer on Facebook, they were delivered to the post office. According a source within the Lesinski campaign, based on the timeline and circumstances, there were only two possibilities for how Gilbert got the mailer. The most likely scenario is that an employee of the mail house gave a copy to Gilbert or one of his associates. Another scenario is that a postal employee snatched the mailer from the sorting center just after it arrived. Neither scenario (mail theft or political espionage) is good for Gilbert.
Read the story at Huffington Post
