LEXINGTON, Ky. – A City Council candidate is protesting a billboard put up by his incumbent opponent that proclaims "Elect Jesus Christ Savior" and includes a box stating "Jacques Wigginton (search) for Council."
Wigginton, a preacher, said the sign, which went up Thursday, was intended not to promote his candidacy but to support the "Elect Jesus" campaign, a local initiative he started to promote faith and community involvement. He said he had the "Wigginton for Council" box printed as small as possible.
But Tom Blues, his opponent in the Lexington council race, said Wigginton appears to be likening himself to Christ.
"He's certainly putting his name on the same level and in the same context (as Jesus)," Blues said. "The implication is clear that if you elect Jesus, then you'll elect Jacques. Not only is it sacrilegious ... it's a kind of desperate, even hysterical sort of appeal."
The Rev. Cynthia Cain of the Unitarian Universalist Church said that regardless of his intentions, Wigginton should not have mixed faith with politics.
"As an elected official, he should definitely know that faith and politics don't mix at that level," said Cain, former president of the Interfaith Alliance of the Bluegrass.
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