Plum Says He Prefers To Stay Off The Crowded Median

This time of year, the medians on roads all over Fairfax County are marked by campaign signs.

But there is one candidate who has opted out of the race for roadside name recognition.

Del. Ken Plum (D), who has represented the 36th District  Virginia House of Delegates since 1982, says he abandoned using this campaign method several election cycles ago.

"It is an environmental issue for me," said Plum, who has earned honors from the Sierra Club and has been named a Conservation Hero four times by the League of Conservation Voters. "For many years, I was like everyone else in putting up road signs, but in recent years, I have been concerned about how it looks in our community." 

Plum says he questions the effectiveness of name recognition this way. In fact, he made the anti-sign stance part of a previous campaign. He mailed a postcard that looked like a sign and aid "If you need a sign, here it is."

"When everyone sticks them up, it becomes a blur," he says. "In this election year, with so many people on the ballot, how [voters] discern who they are and whether they are worthy of a vote I don't know."

To learn more about why signs are campaign standards - particularly for highly competitive yet lower budget races such as the school board - read this recent story by The Fairfax Times