Across the city, signs and postcards can be found targeting Councilwoman Deb Armintor, trying to convince citizens not to vote for her.

Councilwoman Armintor, who announced that she was running for council again in January, said that she first noticed the signs and postcards appearing around town in the first week of September.

“[I found out] when I was contacted by the paper,” Armintor said.

Even though the postcards have malicious intentions, Armintor was impressed by the creator’s variety of themes and photos.

“They all have a photo of me with different hairstyles, … and it uses Spirit Halloween font [that says] ‘Dangerous Deb Armintor.’”

Despite that the mailers and the signs have taken a toll on her mental health, Armintor still jokes about the incident.

“It feels like they’re trading cards. So it’s like [here’s] Redhead Deb,” Armintor said. “When people do get them in the mail, they post about them, and then I find someone and I’m like ‘Oh, can you send me one?’ So it’s like I’m kind of collecting [them].”  

Although the true impact of the signs and mailers won’t be known until after the election, the councilwoman said that she’s received love and encouragement from the public due to the slanderous campaign. 

“[The signs and postcards] make [people who support me] mad to see this stuff,” Armintor said. “Then I’ve heard from a number of people, I’ve stopped counting, who have said I didn’t follow even city politics, people who plan on voting because it’s a presidential election, but they’re like ‘Man I see these things about you around town, and I was like who’s that, and then I look you up. You sound awesome, I’m definitely voting for you.’”

Armintor’s campaign has also received an increase in small donations since the postcards went out to the public. One person even donated money so that Armintor could make signs of her own in retaliation, where she decided to wear the title ‘Dangerous Deb’ with pride. 

“But these are the signs I had made [say] ‘Re-elect Dangerous Deb,’ and it’s in the same style [as the other signs].”

Armintor reminds voters that knowing the name of the candidate themselves is not enough to know who to vote for, and that it’s important to vote even if there’s not enough time to research.

“It does take a little work doing research on candidates,” Armintor said. “Ideally you get to have the time to research the candidates yourself, but it’s a lot, but you should still vote anyway and you can ask a friend or there’s voting recommendation lists you can look at.”

When asked what she recommended what was the best way to research candidates, Armintor answered that she always tells people to use Google.

“Type my name into Google. You will learn so much. I think that’s a great way to look up candidates,” Armintor said. “There are all kinds of questionnaires, and if you google ‘Texas Campaign for the Environment Denton City Council Questionnaire’ you’ll be able to find [the responses].”

Arminor also said that there are  resources that could be found on Facebook.

“There’s a Facebook page called Denton Matters that is one of the pages about local political issues. It’s not just political, sometimes it’s just social interests,” said Armintor.

When asked about tips for first time voters, Armintor said that being able to see what your ballot looks like ahead of time can help.

“My advice is to go to www.votedenton.com and you click on voter information, you type your name and your address, or your name and your social security number, but there’s hardly anything you need to type in but it will show you what your ballot will look like from president all the way to city council,” Armintor said.

Armintor also says that young people need to vote, because she believes that the decisions made now will impact them the most.

“Younger people, we have to listen to them, because we elected officials, everything we do, as you know, is affecting your environment, all the debt we’re accumulating this is the debt that y’all are going to have to pay off.”

Armintor encourages people to vote early if possible.

“Plan to vote early. Don’t tell yourself ‘I’m going to vote on election day cause it’s election day.’ Of course if you leave it till then, then yes, vote on election day,” Armintor said. “Most days [early voting] is 7 AM to 7 PM. You get to choose your voting location for early voting…The lines are short and fast moving for early voting.”

Armintor stresses the importance of voting in local elections, oftentimes because every vote is important and the city council is supposed to serve its citizens.

“It’s important [to vote] because in a democracy, you’re the boss,” Armintor said. “Government is working for you. If you had a business, of course you’d want a say in who your employees are going to be, you know, and that’s how we should view the government, these are the people working for you.”

Armintor also reminds citizens that every vote matters in local elections.

“It’s essential to vote in local elections. For city council, what a lot of people don’t realize is that these elections are won or lost by just a handful of votes,” Armintor said.

Even if citizens don’t vote, Armintor still wants to remind them that their voices count.

“It’s my job as an official to represent everybody, not just the people who voted, and not just the people who voted for me,” Armintor said.

Armintor encourages students to volunteer during this election.

“If someone wants to volunteer for my campaign, if the issues that I stand for can speak to them, they can go to my website www.debfordenton.com, and there’s something to click on that says volunteer, and it’s a Google Form, you can put you name and information, and my campaign coordinator would get in touch,” Armintor said. “Because of COVID we’re doing all phone banking, so just making phone calls, which people can do from the comfort of their own homes.”

In addition, teenagers over 16 are needed to work at polling places this year, in order to keep seniors who usually work there safe from COVID-19.

“Poll-workers are needed. [Students] can contact the Denton County election office. There’s training that you do. That is a paid thing,” Armintor said. “They’re also specifically looking for young people to do that.” 

Students should also encourage their fellow classmates to vote.

“Go vote, and then tell 10 friends to do the same,” Armintor said. 

Whether students vote early, or on Election Day, they’re votes matter because it determines who’s going to make the decisions that affect them. 

“All the way from the president of the United States down to your local council and school board, and everything in between [make decisions for you],” Armintor said. “You get to pick your staff, who’s going to represent you, and then you get to hold them accountable.”

Early voting ends on October 30th and some of the early voting locations include the Denton Public Library North Branch, the Denton Public Library South Branch Library, the Denton Civic Center, the UNT gateway center, and Robson Ranch.

Links to websites concerning voting, volunteer opportunities and poll-working applications:

Councilwoman Deb Armintor’s Website:

https://www.debfordenton.com/

Vote Denton

https://www.votedenton.com/

Denton Matters Facebook Page

https://www.facebook.com/DentonMatters/

Student Election Clerk Application and Permission Form

https://www.sos.state.tx.us/elections/forms/seciform.pdf

Poll-Worker Application

https://www.eac.gov/help-america-vote