Over the last several days, what appears to be an organized campaign has put up cardboard cutouts and posters criticizing State Senator Michael Lee.
Reportedly, around 40 of the life-sized cutouts were placed around the Wilmington area, depicting Lee having visibly urinated himself, with a handful of cash and the slogan “I ♥ [heart] special interest.” NCDOT appears to have removed all of the cutouts that were in state right-of-ways after being contacted by the Lee campaign.
The mural-sized posters appeared in several locations; a parody of Poland Spring advertisements, the posters read “Mike Lee backed polluters” and “now you pay for bottled water.” Pamphlets were also placed in the bottled water section of some stores.
At least one mural was posted without permission, on the Black Cat Halloween location. On social media, the proprietor of the business noted frustration that they’d have to foot the bill to remove the posters — and asked those involved to take responsibility. The post noted both that the owners' concerns were not partisan and that they wanted to avoid pressing criminal charges.
The ads reference a website — weretappedout.com — which appears only partially completed (it features five repeated lines reading “Publication Name Article link with title”). The site claims it's funded by “Clean Politics, Clean Water NC,” which doesn’t appear in state or federal campaign finance databases. Neither the ads nor the website references Lee’s opponent, Democrat Jessica Bichler.
On Tuesday, Lee issued a press release, describing the cutouts as depicting him in a “crude and degrading way,” and calling the campaign “disgusting” and “shameful.” [Note: You can find his full statement at the end of this article.]
Lee wrote, “All of it spreads lies about my record on clean water and falsely suggests I take bribes. And all of it breaks the law.” Lee took issue with both the “false accusations” and “illegal tactics,” and called on Bichler to denounce both.
"Criticism comes with running for office. I will gladly defend my record on clean water, answer for my votes and debate the issues. But voters deserve facts, and our politics deserves basic standards," Lee wrote.
Lee also criticized New Hanover County Democratic Party Chair Jill Hopman for celebrating the ads. Hopman encouraged whoever was posting them to continue, calling the unknown person (or people) involved “a helpful genius” in social media posts. Lee also called on Hopman to denounce the ads.
Responses
In a statement, Bichler wrote that “My campaign had absolutely no involvement in these advertisements. 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 was referencing AI-generated ads released by Lee earlier in the campaign season, which mocked her and the yoga business she runs, depicting her in bizarre contortions and calling her politics “bonkers.”
Related: Slopping Towards Bethlehem (Sunday Edition)
In September, Bichler expressed her concerns about that ad to WHQR.
"The idea that this man not only has the power to create these images, but feels comfortable making my body and my voice do absolutely anything that he chooses is incredibly creepy. The reaction I'm hearing, from people of many political leanings, is that it’s deeply wrong and frankly, weird,” she said.
Hopman also denounced any vandalism, writing in a statement, “The New Hanover County Democratic Party has no connection to the group behind this campaign. Political messages belong where property owners have agreed to post them, and local businesses should not be forced to clean up materials they never wanted.”
Hopman took issue with Lee’s past political ads and his record on environmental regulation.
“We would welcome this same outrage aimed at Chemours. Clean water isn’t a slogan on a sign—it’s a public voting record, and voters should look closely at Senator Lee’s. He is no stranger to launching his own questionable attack ads, and the NHCDP condemns both political vandalism and hypocrisy,” Hopman wrote.
The North Carolina Democratic Party also weighed in. In a statement, Chair Anderson Clayton wrote, “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. As for the peeing of his pants in the ad, I obviously can’t speak to that.”
Races for the Senate district representing New Hanover County have routinely generated significant campaign spending and a steady stream of attack ads. Lee has traded cease-and-desist orders with past Democratic candidates. A 2022 legal challenge forced Democrat Marcia Morgan to recant her ad as "not based in actual fact" and pay back attorneys' fees to settle a defamation case with Lee; in 2024, Democrat David Hill challenged Lee, though unsuccessfully.
This year, Bichler’s campaign issued a cease-and-desist to Lee over one of the political claims in his AI-generated ad; Lee’s campaign adjusted an underlying citation but continued to run the ad otherwise unchanged. Lee issued a cease-and-desist to Majority Rising NC, a PAC that's funded ads attacking his record on regulation, including PFAS pollution from Chemours and rate issues related to Duke Energy. In a statement, Majority Rising’s executive director told WHQR they had no intention of cancelling the ad.
PFAS and other environmental issues have been a key part of both Lee’s campaign and criticisms from his opponents, including Bichler. Lee has touted funding for testing as the basis for numeric standards that will survive litigation — and the creation of an Emerging Contaminant Mitigation Fund, which received $45 million in this year’s budget. Critics say he’s failed to deliver meaningful protections in the form of numerical limits with teeth, or to make Chemours and other polluters pay for contaminating drinking water. They’ve also clashed over how the state regulates Duke, which has a functional monopoly in many areas. WHQR is working on a more in-depth analysis of claims from both parties.
Below: Lee's press release.
WILMINGTON - Is this what politics in New Hanover County has come to?
In the last few days, life-size cardboard cutouts mocking me in a crude and degrading way, clutching a fistful of cash under the words “I ♥ Special Interest,” have shown up at more than 40 locations across town, unloaded from a rental truck. Fake labels have been slipped onto water bottles on store shelves. Mural-sized posters were glued to the wall of a local business without permission. All of it spreads lies about my record on clean water and falsely suggests I take bribes. And all of it breaks the law.
It is disgusting. It is shameful. And our community deserves better.
This is not one angry voter with a marker. It is an organized, funded operation run by a group calling itself “Clean Politics, Clean Water NC.” The irony is hard to miss. There is nothing clean about breaking the law and vandalizing private property, and nothing true about what they are saying about clean water. They are wrong on both counts, and they should tell voters who is paying for it.
Instead of condemning it, New Hanover County Democratic Party Chair Jill Hopman cheered it on. She called the person responsible a “helpful genius” and asked them to “please keep randomly putting signs around town.” Then she followed it with a plug for my opponent.
Black Cat Halloween Wilmington has publicly reported that its building was plastered with a mural sized poster that “will not come off.” Now the owner has to pay someone to remove them. No business owner should foot the bill for someone else’s political attack.
Our children are watching. They are learning how democracy works and how we treat people we disagree with. Is this the example Democrats want to set?
Criticism comes with running for office. I will gladly defend my record on clean water, answer for my votes and debate the issues. But voters deserve facts, and our politics deserves basic standards.
I am calling on my opponent, Jessica Bichler, to publicly disavow these materials, reject their false accusations and condemn these illegal tactics. Jill Hopman should do the same.
Jessica doesn’t have to agree with me on a single issue to say this is wrong. The people of New Hanover County deserve at least that much.
