Rigged.RED Card
KCRCC Accountability
Kootenai County, Idaho

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Home›May 2026›Scott Herndon

Scott Herndon

May 2026 · Idaho Senate LD1, Bonner & Boundary Counties
KCRCC May 2026 Rated and Vetted
RIGGED
Note: LD1 is Bonner and Boundary Counties, not Kootenai County. The KCRCC endorsed a senator who does not represent Kootenai County.
31 party insiders put this candidate on the Rigged Red Card
Documented Record

Ran the committee that endorsed him 26-6

May 2023 - April 2026
  • As BCRCC chairman, oversaw the committee vote endorsing himself 26-6 in its official voter guide.
  • Endorsements were locked up months before candidate filing opened.
  • Sheriff Daryl Wheeler challenged the process at a meeting and was shouted down.
  • The guide graded incumbents on a questionnaire they say they never received.
  • The guide went to every household in Bonner and Boundary counties at BCRCC expense.
  • He led a no-confidence vote against a fellow Republican for not voting with the Idaho Freedom Foundation.
Sources (3)

Used the committee against sitting commissioners

November 2024 - August 2025
  • Announced a special meeting to pick replacement nominees, claiming Bradshaw had moved to Texas.
  • Said he drove by Bradshaw's home and found it vacated.
  • The county auditor said no resignation from Bradshaw had been received.
  • Led a 19-5 BCRCC vote declaring Commissioner Steve Bradshaw's seat vacant over Bradshaw's objection.
  • The resolution called for Bradshaw to be prosecuted over his salary.
  • Gov. Brad Little declined to act on the committee's vacancy declaration.
  • A fellow committeeman called it "a very broad overreach."
  • Led a 26-8 vote censuring two commissioners.
  • Commissioner Williams accused him by name of writing a false narrative in the censure resolution.
  • He said the censured commissioners had "no right" to defend themselves before the committee.
Sources (3)

Challenged an elected committeeman; seat declared vacant

May 2026 - June 2026
  • Jensen Heisel won the Clark Fork committeeman seat May 19 with 54% of the vote.
  • Herndon filed a residency challenge against Heisel with the county clerk on May 22.
  • The deputy county prosecutor wrote the clerk cannot invalidate an elected candidate after the fact.
  • Herndon said the seat decision would be made in closed executive session.
  • Herndon referred the matter to the county prosecutor, citing possible felony perjury.
  • The BCRCC declared Heisel's seat vacant in closed session on May 30.
  • Heisel asked the Idaho Attorney General to investigate the nullification of his election.
Sources (2)

Gun lawsuit against Sandpoint cost taxpayers $300K

2020 - 2024
  • Sued Sandpoint in 2020 to carry a gun into the annual Festival.
  • Courts rejected the suit at a cost of $300,000 to taxpayers.
  • In 2024 he introduced a bill to override the ruling.
  • The bill threatened the Festival and its $4M annual economic impact.
Source (1)

Graphic signs at a middle school; no-exceptions abortion push

2022 - 2026
  • His group placed graphic fetal imagery signs at a middle school entrance.
  • The former principal spent hours fielding calls from distressed parents of 12- and 13-year-olds.
  • He called the disruption "necessary."
  • He pushed to remove rape and incest exceptions from Idaho's abortion ban.
  • The legislature rejected that position as too extreme.
Sources (2)

Armed revolution remark; shot a neighbor's dog

2012 · January 2023
  • Said on a livestream that if government ignores the people, "we would" respond as Americans did to taxation without representation.
  • In 2012 he shot a neighbor's dog in the back as it ran away from him.
  • Sheriff's records show the dog was 80 feet from his chickens and had not touched any of them.
Source (1)

Videos targeting Democrats during a police investigation

July 2024
  • As a sitting senator, posted videos theorizing without evidence about links between an arson suspect and Democratic candidates.
  • The videos disclosed a Democratic candidate's home address.
  • The Bonner County Democratic Party condemned them as misinformation politicizing an active investigation.
  • He said he "would not be surprised if someone listening to the Democratic rhetoric was inspired to violence."
Source (1)

Sanctioned by his own Senate leadership

November 2023
  • Senate President Pro Tem Chuck Winder formally sanctioned him for writings attacking fellow senators.
  • He accepted endorsement from a PAC documented fabricating AI images of Republican legislators, including a manufactured Playboy cover.
Source (1)

Out-of-state money and an $80K attack-ad firm

2022 - 2026
  • The PAC backing him gets 99%+ of its money from a national PAC fueled by Pennsylvania gambling money.
  • His campaign paid $80,000+ to a firm with Proud Boys ties for attack ads against a fellow Republican.
  • He took $10,000 in federal CARES Act money while urging supporters not to take federal money.
Sources (2)

Far-right network and the West Bonner superintendent

2022 - 2023
  • Documented as part of a network with ties to white supremacist and Christian nationalist groups.
  • He personally drove a controversial superintendent candidate to his hiring meeting.
  • He spent party funds fighting the recall of the board members who hired him.
  • Voters recalled them anyway, and the superintendent resigned.
Sources (2)

Restricted ballot measures; opposed police funding

2023 - 2026
  • IFF score: 96.2%.
  • Idaho Children Are Primary scores him 36% on its Kids Matter Index. Incumbent Woodward scores 86%.
  • He voted against the Idaho State Police budget bill.
  • He voted to restrict the ballot initiative process after 60% of voters approved Medicaid expansion.
Sources (2)

Property tax elimination plan leaves $1.1 billion gap

April 2026 - July 2026
  • He wants to abolish property taxes entirely amid a projected $44.1 million state deficit.
  • Led the June 2026 IDGOP convention plank to eliminate property taxes.
  • Counties levied $404.4 million in property taxes for public schools in fiscal 2025.
  • His plan names no replacement tax. He is banking on economic growth: "Was going to the moon realistic?"
  • His own numbers leave a $1.1 billion gap in the property tax plan.
  • Property taxes are collected locally, not by the legislature he serves in.
Sources (2)

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