Federal judge rules Teton Sheriff Tony Liford to remain in Republican Primary

DRIGGS — Teton County Sheriff Tony Liford will remain on the Republican primary ballot thanks to a federal judge’s ruling. The Teton County Republican Central Committee filed the case on Liford’s behalf, suing for a temporary restraining order to prevent Clerk Mary Lou Hansen from removing Liford from the ballot.

“The most important thing is that people should have the right to vote,” said Harley Wilcox.

The hearing was originally set to take place in the Teton County courthouse but was moved to federal court in Boise in front of US District Court Judge Candy Dale.

The entire case revolves around Liford switching parties from Democrat to Republican. He served two terms as sheriff as a Democrat, but switched parties just before filing. He followed the advice given to him from the clerks office as to when he had to file to switch parties, but later the clerk’s office cited an “obscure” election law from 1997 that Hansen interpreted as requiring candidates switch parties five days before filing for re-election.

The judge took issue with the clerk’s office interpretation of the 1997 law as creating a five-day waiting period for those holding political office to change their parties.

“This interpretation strains sound logic,” Dale wrote.

Later in her ruling, Dale also called the defense’s arguments “nonsensical.”

The judge ruled that interpretation to be unconstitutional since, among other concerns, it would treat incumbents differently from other candidates and thus granted the committee’s request for an order.

“We feel vindicated,” said the republican committee’s attorney Billie Siddoway.

The way this kind of order works, the plaintiff, in this case the Teton County Republican Committee, needs to put money in account just in case it’s later found that the order should be overturned. This money is used to pay for damages to the defendant, in this case the county clerk, that the order may have caused.

Judge Dale ordered the Republican committee to put down $5,000 to cover Hansen’s attorney fees. However, Hansen’s attorney originally requested the committee pay $100,000.

In making her original decision, clerk Hansen consulted with the Idaho Secretary of State office, who recommended she take Liford’s name off the ballot.

However, Tim Hurst at the Secretary of State’s office said his advice may have been different if he was aware of certain facts. For example, he did not know that some voters had already voted absentee in the sheriff’s race when Hansen decided to remove Liford’s name from the ballot.

For his part, Sheriff Liford said he feels the entire matter has been a question of politics, not a question of law.

“It was apparently clear to me and a lot of people that this was political maneuvering,” he said.

However, more important than politics he said, was what this meant for voters.

“This has less to do with me than the voters of Teton County being able to vote for who they want to,” he said.

The Judge’s ruling also cast some doubt on how the clerk’s decision was made.

“Although Defendant’s desire to interpret the election law correctly is commendable, the self-interested manner in which the law is interpreted and applied to Liford will prevent TCRCC from promoting the candidate of its choosing due to a manufactured technicality.”

Liford’s likely opponent this fall is Lindsey Moss, who works as investigator for the Teton County Prosecutor’s office.

Prosecutor Kathy Spitzer recused herself from the case before it went to court in Boise, she said, so there would be no appearance of conflict of interest. She said that before the case was moved to federal court, she and Siddoway were working toward a settlement.

“This has nothing to do with me,” she said. “I’m a minor player in this.”

Spitzer also clarified that one of the notable stances taken by Hansen’s attorney in the trial was never taken by the county. That stance being that even though Liford could not appear on the Republican ballot for the primary, he could still vote in the Republican Primary.

She said that position made it so there is not a clear direction on how exactly these election laws should be interpreted in the future.

“I’m not disappointed that Liford can be on the ballot,” she said. “I’m disappointed that the judge decided the case on a false statement.”

The primary election will take place May 17. Both Moss and Liford are running unopposed within their parties. They will meet in the general election this fall.

This article was originally published in the Teton Valley News. It is used here with permission.