Democratic candidate Heidi Van Schoonhoven says she is running for House District 58 to offers the voters an alternative on the ballot.

La Grande Dry Cleaning’s Facebook page is home to nearly 1,000 reviews, most of which deal less with the company’s ability to eliminate stains and more to do with President Donald Trump.

The business became a hotbed of political attention when owner Heidi Van Schoonhoven posted a new sign in the downtown storefront’s window Aug. 16.

“White supremacy is wrong,” the sign states. “Trump condones white supremacy. If you still support Trump, your business is NOT welcome here.”

Van Schoonhoven decided to post the sign following Trump’s response to clashes between self-described alt-right white nationalist, white supremacist and neo-Nazi protesters and counter protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia, on Aug. 12. One of the protesters allegedly drove his car into a crowd, killing a 32-year-old woman and injuring several others.

In the days following the event, Trump gave conflicting statements, sometimes blaming “many sides” and other times more directly condemning white supremacists.

“There is no moral ambiguity in this situation — white supremacy is wrong and I’m not going to be quiet about it,” Van Schoonhoven said in an interview with the East Oregonian Friday.

The sign has been ripped off the store twice since she taped it to the window, but she has replaced it each time and made corresponding donations to the American Civil Liberties Union.

Van Schoonhoven acknowledged the wide range of support and criticism her Facebook page has received. Most of the authors who have reviewed La Grande Dry Cleaning hail from outside Oregon — including people from Alabama, South Dakota, New York and Missouri.

“I knew I was taking a risk,” she said about posting the sign. “I knew I was taking a risk with my business. I knew I was taking a risk with my safety.”

While she has received a few personal threats, Van Schoonhoven said the online criticism has mostly involved calling her a racist and saying her business is going to fail.

In contrast to the comments on social media, she said most of her in-person interactions about the signs have been positive and her business has actually grown, although that wasn’t her original intention.

Even the in-person criticism has been more civil than the online discourse, Van Schoonhoven said.

Van Schoonhoven ran for state House District 58 in 2012 and 2014 as the Democratic candidate. The district spans Union County, Wallowa County and parts of Umatilla County, including Pendleton.

Van Schoonhoven said she has no plans to take the sign down.

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Contact Antonio Sierra at asierra@eastoregonian.com or 541-966-0836.