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Scott Herndon

November 2026 General · Idaho Senate LD1 (Bonner & Boundary Counties) · vs. Steve Johnson (I)
Bonner County Republican Central Committee voter guide, full-page endorsement of Scott Herndon, mailed to every household in Bonner and Boundary Counties
RIGGED
Note: Scott Herndon chaired the Bonner County Republican Central Committee from 2023 to 2026. He ran the committee vote that endorsed him 26 to 6 in its official voter guide. That guide went to every household in Bonner and Boundary Counties at committee expense. Both the BCRCC and Brent Regan's Kootenai County committee put him on their Rated and Vetted cards.
31 party insiders put this candidate on the Rigged Red Card
Documented Record

Shot a neighbor's dog as it fled; invoked armed revolution

2012 · January 2023
  • 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.
  • A Bonner County sheriff's deputy wrote a citation charging him with misdemeanor animal cruelty.
  • On a livestream he said that if government ignores the people, "we would" respond as Americans did to taxation without representation.
Source (1)

Drove Branden Durst to the West Bonner superintendent job; spent party money against the recall

2022 - 2023
  • He personally drove Branden Durst to his interview for the West Bonner superintendent job.
  • He spent party funds fighting the recall of the board members who hired Durst.
  • Voters recalled those board members anyway.
  • Durst resigned.
  • As superintendent, Durst hired Dave Reilly's wife, Melissa Reilly, as the district's business manager.
  • Reporting placed Herndon and Durst in the same Idaho Freedom Foundation network, one tied to white supremacist and Christian nationalist groups.
Sources (3)

Voted against the Idaho State Police budget

January 2024
  • He voted against the Idaho State Police budget bill.
  • Idaho State Police provides highway patrol and criminal investigation statewide.
Source (1)

Graphic abortion signs at a middle school entrance

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."
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)

Reprimanded by his own Republican Senate leader for disparaging colleagues

November 2023
  • Republican Senate President Pro Tem Chuck Winder sent Herndon a formal reprimand letter on Nov. 15, 2023.
  • The letter called a newsletter on Herndon's campaign website "degrading and disparaging" of every senator on the budget committee.
  • Winder called the statements "unnecessary and inexcusable."
  • He demanded a retraction and an apology to each of those senators.
  • He accepted endorsement from a PAC documented fabricating AI images of Republican legislators, including a manufactured Playboy cover.
Sources (3)

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)

Gun lawsuit cost taxpayers $300K; Festival says Herndon's law would end it

2020 - 2026
  • Sued Sandpoint in 2020 to carry a gun into the annual Festival.
  • Courts rejected the suit at a cost of $300,000 to taxpayers.
  • After losing at the Idaho Supreme Court in 2023, he sponsored SB 1374 to override the ruling.
  • HB 376 would bar event lessees from banning guns. The Festival, bound by performer contracts that require a ban, says it could no longer host its $3.8M-a-year event.
  • HB 376 passed the House 56-10 and stalled in the Senate. Herndon attacked Sen. Jim Woodward for opposing it.
Sources (4)

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
  • Claimed Commissioner Steve Bradshaw had moved to Texas, saying he drove by and found the home vacated.
  • The county auditor said no resignation had been received.
  • Led a 19-5 BCRCC vote declaring Bradshaw's seat vacant over his objection.
  • The resolution called for prosecuting Bradshaw over his salary.
  • Gov. Brad Little declined to act on the declaration.
  • Led a 26-8 vote censuring two commissioners.
  • Said the censured commissioners had "no right" to defend themselves before the committee.
  • Commissioner Williams accused him by name of writing a false narrative in the censure resolution.
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.
  • Three days later, Herndon filed a residency challenge against him.
  • A deputy county prosecutor wrote that the clerk cannot invalidate an elected candidate after the fact.
  • Herndon referred the matter to the prosecutor, citing possible felony perjury.
  • The BCRCC declared Heisel's seat vacant in closed session May 30.
  • Heisel asked the Idaho Attorney General to investigate.
Sources (2)

Wants to remove committeemen who back non-Republicans, after backing one himself

October 2024 - August 2026
  • After losing the 2024 primary, Herndon shared a voter guide reading "I am NOT voting for Jim Woodward," the Republican nominee, and urging a vote for independent Dan Rose.
  • In 2026 he proposed a "Duty of Loyalty" bylaw letting the party remove elected committeemen who publicly back a non-Republican in a general election.
  • Committeeman Tom Bokowy opposed it and pointed to Herndon's Rose endorsement as an inconsistency.
  • Herndon pulled the bylaw from the Aug. 18 Bonner County vote.
Source (1)

Voted to restrict ballot measures after a voter-approved Medicaid expansion

2023 - 2026
  • He voted to restrict the ballot initiative process after 60% of voters approved Medicaid expansion.
  • Idaho Children Are Primary scores him 36% on its Kids Matter Index.
  • His Idaho Freedom Foundation score is 96.2%.
Source (1)

Property tax elimination plan leaves schools a funding gap

April 2026 - August 2026
  • Led the June 2026 Idaho GOP convention plank to eliminate property taxes.
  • Counties levied $404.4M in property taxes for public schools in fiscal 2025.
  • His plan names no replacement tax, amid a projected $44.1 million state deficit.
  • He is banking on economic growth: "Was going to the moon realistic?"
  • His own numbers leave a $1.1 billion gap.
Sources (3)

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