Rabbi Jonathan Dade discovered the vandalism at his church just before the service started on Saturday, August 9, 2020. “Sometimes before worship, the tech doesn’t work. We didn’t know what had happened until we discovered that our internet cables had actually been cut.”

In a post-COVID world, live-streaming is the lifeline for many church congregations. Dade was ready to go on with his broadcast as normal on Saturday, August 10, but this service did not make it out to his media channel as expected. “We don’t know who did it. All we can do is wonder why.” Dade continues, “We share the building with another church that meets on Sunday. They were affected as well.”

A Messianic Jew, converted during his service in the U. S. Navy, Dade does not believe that the vandalism had to do with the Sunday morning church service. “See, the cables were cut on Friday evening, just in time to interfere with our service the next day.” The same box affected several tenants in the area, and while the damage has since been repaired, Dade says that he will always wonder why this happened. The other church as well as the affected residential tenants told Dade they believed the damage was directed at him specifically.

The motivation may be found on the campaign trail for mayor of Georgetown, Texas, where Jonathan Dade is running as a Republican candidate. According to Dade, political opponents will stop at nothing to silence his voice. Dade says that he meets a lot of people who should run for office, but who are afraid of the high cost of politics, “I don’t want to stop with running for mayor,” he says. “The goal for me is to inspire a lot of other people who should be running for office, to run for office.”

As a police chaplain, Dade praises Georgetown’s police department, and advocates for more, not less funding of the police. He brags on the strong leadership of the force, and calls it out as an example to its neighbors. Dade would like to bring these same ideas of strong leadership into the mayoral position, if elected. “It’s a low-paying job with a lot of potential to affect change.” Dade says that changing Georgetown for the better is what motivates him.

However, Dade’s political opponents troll him relentlessly, as seen this week on the social media app, NextDoor. In response to Dade’s post in the Georgetown area, one “neighbor” replied especially viciously:

While other neighbors voiced support and one volunteered to post 24 hour guard on the synagogue, Dade acknowledged this troll as an old, sworn political enemy. “There is a group of them,” says Dade. “They actually tag each other so one of them is always messing with me.” Dade says this one was involved in other attacks on his character, most dating back years before this year’s campaign for mayor.

Dade reports receiving numerous notices from NextDoor about his personal posts, which range from news of vandalism to birdwatching. He says that his opponents delight in reporting him as abusive or overly political. “I don’t get NextDoor’s algorithm, but it seems to depend on how many people complain, not on what the content of my post says.”

While Dade is haunted by political pressure that would drive most people from the race, he refuses to say silent. “I want my voice to be heard,” he says, “To inspire a better, more diverse future in Georgetown, Texas. I need a little money to do that, but not much. For me, it’s about the message, not the cash.”

Contributions to Jonathan Dade’s campaign can be made directly at https://rlbechad.org/jonathan-dade-campaign/.