NIC trustee candidate ‘frustrated’ with information added to Tory voter guide without her consent

North Idaho College trustee candidate Mary Havercroft said she’s frustrated that the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee changed her party affiliation to their conservative voter guide as she runs for a nonpartisan seat.

Havercroft, a candidate for District 5 trustee, said she did not list an affiliation when asked about her political party in the guide.

“I truly believe this is a nonpartisan race and should be treated as such,” Havercroft said.

Instead, when voter’s guide started circulating online, her party affiliation read “(not given *) * Unaffiliated as of 10/23, DEMOCRATIC ballot requested 2020 & 2022.”

“I was very frustrated that they were going to fill it in for me and in a selective way,” she said.

Other candidates’ affiliations read “Republican,” “GOP” and “Registered Republican for Life.”

Havercroft said she has been unaffiliated for the past few years, but registered as a Republican this spring to vote in the party’s closed primaries. Voter records confirm she is currently registered as a Republican.

The methodology of the guide says that the answers submitted by the candidates will not be modified. “We will not edit your answers in any way,” the methodology section states.

“They were untruthful when they said they wouldn’t edit my answers,” Havercroft said.

Brent Regan, KCRCC president, said in an email that they have not changed any candidate’s answer and could not have changed Havercroft’s answer on party affiliation because she did not provide one. But Regan did not acknowledge the details added after her deposition.

Regan pointed to e-mailers from SaveNIC, a local advocacy group that supports Havercroft. SaveNIC has described its endorsed candidates as long-time conservatives. This prompted KCRCC to search Havercroft’s voting records. Regan also noted that Havercroft declined an invitation to participate in KCRCC’s approval process.

Havercroft said he was hesitant to even answer the guide because the questions were so partisan, but he wanted to get his qualifications out to more voters.

Candidates could write a short answer on topics such as “President Trump,” ranked-choice voting, parental rights, immigration, the Second Amendment, public education, school choice, and wokeism.

“All of their assessment and vetting questions talk about partisanship, except maybe one,” she said. “I just didn’t answer them because it felt like, again, none of them really spoke to my qualifications or my position.”

All races featured in the KCRCC Conservative voter guide are non-partisan. However, all respondents to the guide except Havercroft listed Republican as their party affiliation.

Partisan politics have led to controversy in other nonpartisan races featured in the conservative voter guide, such as the race for the Kootenai-Shoshone Soil and Water Conservation District, Spokesman-Review reported.

The races for NIC trustees have been contentious as the college faces a potential loss of accreditation amid political unrest. And it’s an issue in next week’s election.

SaveNIC is pushing for a new management team – Havercroft, Eve Knudtsen and Rick Durbin – in hopes of retaining accreditation.

KCRCC is supporting incumbent Greg McKenzie along with William Lyons and Michael Angiletta, who are opposing Havercroft. Regan argued that the accreditation problem is not due to poor governance, the main problem cited by the accrediting body, but a hidden drive to force colleges to have diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

EdNews coverage of the race can be found Here.