Jonathan Caldwell, a prominent Democratic activist from New Hampshire, was arrested after he was caught red-handed stealing Republican campaign signs. The victim, Peter Lessels, had placed handmade signs with arrows pointing to DNC election material, which said that the Democratic candidates “Support men in women’s sports,” which provoked the illegal attack.
For context, Caldwell has long worked as an insider in the New Hampshire Democratic Party. Not only did he serve as chair of the Stratham Town Democratic Committee as recently as 2022, but he is listed as Democratic state Sen. Debra Altschiller’s campaign treasurer.
Starting on November 3, 2025, Lessels caught the Democrat stealing Republican signs in an embarrassing confrontation. Weeks before, the conservative had noticed a sign missing from his property, and after he replaced it, he kept a close eye on it. Eventually, he observed Caldwell jumping out of his car to steal the sign.
Confronting the triggered Democrat, Lessels yelled, “That’s illegal,” and berated the man for his theft. Stammering out a reply, Jonathan Caldwell insisted that the owners of a nearby business had asked him to remove the sign.
When a clip of the incident was posted to social media by conservative commentator Tony Segura, conservatives were incensed by the lawless behavior. One of the comments read, “democRats have become mental cowards… void of ideas or reason they resort to violence, fraud, intimidation, destruction.” Another comment read, “The Democrats just can’t help themselves from doing dirty tricks!”
As we reported previously, Democrats often resort to underhanded tactics like stealing campaign signs. Just before the 2024 election, a top Democratic official, a county party chair, was forced to resign after he was arrested for stealing Trump signs in North Carolina. Lowell Simon, Moore County Democratic Party chair, was charged with two counts of misdemeanor larceny and forced to step down from his position.
Announcing the arrest, the Moore County Sheriff’s Office issued a press release to inform the public. In a post titled “Arrest Made Following Campaign Sign Thefts,” the Sheriff said, “On October 10, 2024, at approximately 5:25 PM, a sheriff’s deputy working in the West End area observed Lowell Simon removing campaign signs from the roadside along Seven Lakes Drive. The deputy, who was responding to an unrelated call at the time, later followed up at Simon’s residence, where the signs were found in his vehicle. Simon admitted to removing the signs, which were then recovered and returned to their original owner.”
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Watch the confrontation here:
Continuing, the document explained how Simon would be charged for his actions. It read, “This morning, a warrant for Simon’s arrest was issued in connection with the stolen signs. Lowell Evan Simon, age 68, of West End, North Carolina, was charged with two counts of misdemeanor larceny of political signs and was released under a written promise to appear in court. Simon’s first court appearance is scheduled for October 30, 2024, in Moore County District Court.”
Concluding, the Moore County officials reminded the public that stealing signs is against the law, saying, “Sheriff Ronnie Fields reminds the public that the removal or theft of campaign signs is a violation of North Carolina General Statute § 136-32(e), which protects the lawful placement of these signs during election periods.”
Featured image from embedded video