Election law expert said college should remove sign
A campaign sign on property owned by Gettysburg College has been “immediately removed,” following questions from The College Fix.
The “Humor House,” a campus residence at the private college in Pennsylvania previously had a sign for Democratic mayoral candidate Chad-Alan Carr in the front lawn.
The college learned of the sign when The Fix first asked, according to Associate Director of Residential Education Andrew Hileman.
“When the issue was brought to our attention, Residential Education asked the House Leader to remove the sign,” Hileman told The Fix via email on Wednesday. “The House Leader immediately removed the sign, in according with College policy.”
The Fix independently confirmed the sign has been removed.
The sign raised potential legal concerns due to the college’s status as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, according to a former chief counsel to the Republican National Committee.
“Under the Internal Revenue Code, all section 501(c)(3) organizations are absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for elective public office,” according to the IRS website.
“Ideally, the college would remove the sign or contact Humor House residents and ask for the person who put it there to remove it,” J. Justin Riemer told The Fix via email prior to Heilman’s statement. He previously worked on election law for the commonwealth of Virginia and has also advised politicians, including Senator John McCain of Arizona.
“As a practical matter, the school’s acquiescence to the presence of the campaign sign in a common space is not ideal, nor is it good optics, but the IRS would likely not consider it a serious issue,” Riemer, the Republican attorney, said. He is also a graduate of Gettysburg College.
Riemer said there would likely not be any “consequences” since “no funds were likely expended” by the college.
Carr, the Democratic challenger, is running against Mayor Frealing, saying the city needs “stronger transparency and accountability.”
The challenger is running to unseat fellow Democrat Rita Frealing in the primary, set for Tuesday, May 20.
Carr is active in the local theatre community and several theatre students live at “Humor House.”
Carr, in an interview with the Gettysburg College student newspaper, said he has worked for 17 years since moving to town to “bring people together to share peace, love, happiness, and equality.”
He previously ran against Frealing in 2020. During a campaign forum in 2020, he “pledged if elected to donate the entire $5,000 mayoral salary to fund additional police training on topics such as racial and LGBTQ awareness, empathy, and approaches to people with mental illness or special needs,” according to the Gettysburg Times.
Frealing is running for re-election “on a continued goal of ensuring equal access to services available to borough residents,” according to a candidate statement. “I have seen firsthand the positive impact of effective leadership and community engagement.”
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IMAGE CAPTION AND CREDIT: A campaign sign for Gettysburg mayoral candidate Chad-Alan Carr; Tyler Seeman/The College Fix
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