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State treasurer candidate puts "stalker alert" on webpage

October 05, 2000
By: Lauren Shepherd
State Capital Bureau

JEFFERSON CITY - Democratic candidate for state treasurer Nancy Farmer has issued a "stalker alert" on her webpage, claiming that her opponent is watching and videotaping her going to and from campaign events.

"They appear to lie in wait just to capture video of Nancy Farmer getting out of her car, going to the homes of her friends and supporters and driving down the road," according to the message posted on the website. "The only identifying marks are the Todd Graves bumper stickers which adorn the vehicles these stalkers use to tail Nancy."

The page, which is two clicks away from the homepage, also sports two pictures of a man in a white t-shirt and jeans videotaping Farmer on a residential street and one photo of a man in a white car.

Farmer spokesman Chuck Miller said he put the page up last week as a "tongue in cheek approach to dealing with the opposition" and that the Farmer campaign views the charge as "campaign silliness."

Miller said the behavior of the "stalkers" has been going on for over a month. The men appear at events where Farmer is present and videotape the candidate getting in and out of her car. Miller said that several times, the men seem only to watch Farmer from inside a car.

"I don't know if it's an intimidation tactic or what it is," Miller said. "It's really bizarre."

Graves, who has not yet seen the webpage, said he knows nothing about the alleged stalking behavior.

"That's a ridiculous assertion that somone would be stalking her," he said. "That we would stalk her is absolutely ludicrous."

Graves said although his campaign has videotaped Farmer at speeches and campaign events, he would not condone anyone videotaping her at her home or at the homes of her friends and supporters.

While Graves says he knows nothing about the behavior, Miller said he has seen the men in question at campaign events with Graves.

Miller said that he plans to take the page down soon.

"I didn't want anything like that to divert from the issues in the race," he said.