Idaho state senate candidate files complaint against campaign for state’s top election official

BOISE (Idaho Capital Sun) — An Idaho state senate candidate has filed a complaint against the campaign of the state’s chief election official for mailers sent ahead of the May primary that endorsed his opponent.

North Idaho candidate and former senator Scott Herndon filed the complaint, which centers on mailers featuring Idaho Secretary of State Phil McGrane and an endorsement for Herndon’s primary opponent, incumbent Sen. Jim Woodward. Herndon defeated Woodward in the race.

Because the issue involves McGrane, whose office oversees statewide, legislative and judicial elections, the complaint has been referred to the Idaho Attorney General. McGrane told the Sun this plan had been in place well ahead of the election in case there was a complaint about his own campaign.  

A spokesperson for Attorney General Raúl Labrador said the office couldn’t comment further other than to confirm there was an active investigation.

McGrane told the Sun that the mailing was limited to very active voters and the portions of the mailing dedicated to endorsements were reported as in-kind donations in his May campaign finance report, which will be available June 10.

What caused the complaint?

On May 20, one day after the primary election, Herndon emailed the Secretary of State’s Office and Labrador to file a complaint over mailers that featured McGrane as well as endorsements for Woodward and another North Idaho incumbent legislative candidate Rep. Mark Sauter.

“I called around to several people throughout my district,” Herndon said in an interview. “There were multiple precincts that received that mailer, and I could never get them for that cheap.”

Herndon argued that such a mailing should have cost at least $1,000, which under campaign finance laws would trigger a required expense report within 48 hours.

McGrane said he planned the mailings carefully, and reported them in compliance with the law.

“I feel very comfortable in it,” McGrane said in an interview. “Obviously, reporting and campaign finance is on my mind regularly, especially in this portion of the cycle.”

McGrane said his campaign spent just over $16,000 total on mailers right ahead of the May 19 primary, and the mailers featured information about his own campaign for reelection on one side and endorsed two other candidates on the other. He endorsed 26 incumbent legislators, he said, and divvied up reporting so it came to about a $750 in-kind donation from his campaign to their’s, he said. The donations will appear in his May campaign finance report as well as the reports for the candidates he endorsed.

“There was a certain budget to do this,” McGrane said “And it was just like, ‘we will only mail so many in each of these districts,’ … it may not have been as large of a pool as they thought.”

McGrane did not have a Republican primary challenger in his bid for reelection. He will face Democrat Shawn Keenan in the general election. Under campaign reporting laws, McGrane is allowed to coordinate with other candidates to provide a direct donation to their campaign, as long as it’s within the $1,000 limit on contributions. However, if he reported the spending as an “independent expenditure,” he could exceed the $1,000 limit but would not be allowed to coordinate with the other campaign.

Herndon argues SoS role should be impartial in elections. McGrane disagrees.

Herndon told the Sun he could accept McGrane’s explanation for the cost of the mailers to show the reporting was in compliance. However, he said both in his formal complaint and in an interview he didn’t think the person in charge of the state election office should weigh in on any races.

“In my opinion, he’s got to be completely impartial on the elections, regardless of the outcome,” Herndon said. “It clouds his impartiality.”

Herndon said it “muddies the waters,” especially if there’s an audit or recount in a district where McGrane weighed in on the outcome.

McGrane noted that his position is partisan and he runs in partisan elections. He doesn’t think his activity in the Republican Party takes away from his credibility overseeing elections.

“I think at times people forget I’m also on the ballot and a participant in the space, right?” He said. “I’m a partisan elected official. I’m a proud Republican. … I think the biggest thing that’s most important is we try to be hyper transparent… and that includes the fact that I have opinions. I’m a voter, just like everybody else, that I want people to know where I stand.”

McGrane noted a recent drawing of counties for random audits of the primary election, which was open to the public, as an example of transparency. He also said he thinks it’s “great” that Herndon filed a complaint.

“I think I need to be held accountable, just like everybody else in the process,” he said.