Report: Former Kaufman County Judge Mike Myers Admits to Stealing Campaign Yard Signs in Forney

Even after the Texas midterm primaries came and went, stories from the campaign season just keep getting stranger.

A former Kaufman County justice of the peace, the son of a self-proclaimed “proud white nationalist” political activist from North Texas, admitted to law enforcement last week that he stole yard signs set up by the campaign of a candidate for district attorney there, inForney.com reported.

The Republican primary for Kaufman County district attorney was already a tight battle between incumbent Erleigh Norville Wiley against attorney Rob Farquharson of Heath. Farquharson lost the race to Wiley last week.

A few weeks before the March 1 primaries, Farquharson posted photos showing a heap of his campaign’s yard signs had been stolen overnight from a Forney courthouse and dumped outside of town.

Kaufman County Sheriff’s Office and the Forney Police Department told inForney.com that although Farquharson didn't file a report documenting the alleged theft, they ended up using video surveillance cameras to capture the incident and release a vehicle description to the public.

Ten days later, Kaufman law enforcement officials said they had identified the driver of the vehicle as former Kaufman County Justice of the Peace Michael Jackson “Mike” Myers.

When law enforcement questioned him about the alleged theft, Myers confessed to taking Farquharson's signs and dumping them in a wooded area north of Forney, according to initial reports from officials. InForney.com obtained an audio recording of Myers’ confession last week that shored up officials’ stories.

Myers lost his position as a JP in 2002 when the Texas Supreme Court determined he’d stopped performing his duties. At the time of his confession, he was out of jail on bond for two DWI charges and two charges of resisting arrest in Kaufman County, court records show.

“Voter integrity begins with fair elections," Kaufman County Republican Chairman Coby Pritchett told inForney.com “I am disappointed, because you can’t have fair elections when criminals break the law by stealing signs. This is not where I want candidates or their supporters to concentrate their energies. Their actions are certainly not condoned by the majority of Kaufman County Republicans.”

Myers is the oldest son of longtime Kaufman far-right political activist Ray Myers. Myers started the Kaufman County Tea Party and now helms the “Kaufman County Conservative Republicans” social media pages and political action committee. In 2018, the Texas Observer reported that the elder Myers, who had helped draft the state GOP's platform that year, had written on Facebook: "Damn Right, I’m a WHITE NATIONALIST and very Proud of it."

Ray Myers had publicly endorsed Farquharson before last week’s primary, and is set to run for Kaufman County precinct chair in runoff elections on May 24.