Bonner GOP unseats Clark Fork committeeman citing residency challenge

Jensen Heisel: ‘Clark Fork is my home, my community and the place where I have lived, voted and built my life’

By Zach Hagadone
Reader Staff

Jensen Heisel won the Bonner County Republican Central Committee precinct committee seat for Clark Fork in the May 19 primary by more than 54% against incumbent Committeeman Dimitry Borisov, but he won’t be serving the community where he’s lived for his entire life and in which he’s been registered to vote for as long he was old enough to do so.

The BCRCC met May 29 and voted to vacate the seat won by Heisel based on a discrepancy over his physical address and the address he used to register to vote. 

“Idaho Code § 34-624 requires that a precinct committeeman be a registered elector of the voting precinct for a period of six months preceding his election,” incoming BCRCC Chair Roger Rudd wrote in a news release May 30. “Under Idaho Code § 34-105, a ‘registered elector’ is a ‘qualified elector,’ which Idaho Code § 34-104 defines as a person who is ‘registered as required by law.’ Idaho Code § 34-411 requires that a voter registration contain the elector’s true residence address, supplied under oath.”

The vote on Heisel’s credentials challenge was made after BCRCC committee members meeting at the Sandpoint VFW proceeded on a secret ballot to advance the issue to executive session.

According to Rudd, who won the GOP primary for Bonner County clerk and was elected to the chair’s position at the May 29 meeting, “Mr. Heisel was given the opportunity to respond to the challenge. He acknowledged that the residence address on his voter registration is not his actual residence. The committee determined that his voter registration is therefore defective under Idaho Code § 34-411 and that he does not meet the statutory definition of a qualified elector.”

In a Facebook post on May 27, Heisel wrote that he had been “targeted by a residency challenge filed by Scott Herndon, who is trying to overturn the voice of Clark Fork voters. I strongly disagree with this challenge. Clark Fork is my home, my community and the place where I have lived, voted and built my life.

“This is bigger than one office. It is about whether the voters of Clark Fork will be respected or pushed aside by political games,” he continued.

Beach Precinct Committeeman Dave Britton spoke against vacating Heisel’s seat on the basis of the address challenge, telling fellow committee members on May 29, “I think it’s clear from the laws, especially [Idaho Code] 6-603, that trying to prevent an elected official from doing what they’re elected to do is illegal. If we do this, everyone who goes for it is committing an illegal act. I’m going to oppose this, of course. It is wrong. It is illegal, it’s a scam. …

“There is no basis for it. You want to do it just because it’s political and it might get you another vote on the committee or something, but it’s illegal,” he added.

I.C. 6-602 relates to “usurpation of office or franchise,” which states in part, “An action may be brought in the name of the people of the state against any person who usurps, intrudes into, holds or exercises any office or franchise, real or pretended, within this state, without authority of law.”

In a follow up statement shared with the Reader, Britton wrote, “the decision about Jensen’s ‘qualification’ as a voting elector is not the power of the committee, but of the county clerk, who permitted him to enter the race, which decision could have been challenged during the following 14 days, but was not, so it is now unchallengeable. Further, Jensen denies ever living anywhere outside of the Clark Fork precinct for at least the six months required before the election.” 

In an email from outgoing County Clerk Michael Rosedale, and shared with the Reader, Rosedale cited arguments provided by Herndon — who won the May 19 GOP nomination to run for the District 1 Senate seat — related to “the multi-factor test” to prove residency. Among the allegations, according to Herndon, Heisel did not claim a homeowner’s exemption on the property he submitted with his declaration for candidacy to the BCRCC precinct election.

“If a person claims a homeowner’s exemption under § 63-602G on a property, that property is considered their residence for voting purposes,” Herndon wrote. “The exemption requires owner-occupancy — you can only claim it on the home you actually live in. So if you’re claiming the tax break, that’s where you vote.” 

What’s more, Herndon claimed to have visited the address and spoke with a woman who had been renting the property for fewer than two weeks at the time.

“A renter is occupying the home with her own belongings,” Herndon wrote in a separate email to Rosedale, with Bonner County Prosecutor Louis Marshall and Borisov as fellow recipients. “He does not eat or sleep there. He has no habitation at the address. The house is being operated as a rental property, which is consistent with the rental listing evidence submitted in my original challenge.”

In his complaint to the County Clerk’s Office, Herndon argued that Heisel’s actual address was in the Grouse Creek Precinct, not Clark Fork, based on business filings with the Idaho Secretary of State’s Office.

For his part, Rosedale advised Heisel that if he was not eligible to serve as the Clark Fork precinct committeeman, “I suggest you withdraw immediately. If you are eligible, I suggest you immediately address the assertions made by Mr. Herndon.”

Heisel’s response was to “respectfully disagree with the challenge and believe I meet the residency requirements under Idaho law.”

While he confirmed owning the Clark Fork address he used to file his candidacy and that he has been operating it as a rental, he disclosed that he has also been living with his parents at a separate address in Clark Fork while he and his wife are in the process of purchasing another property and building a home — again, also in Clark Fork. Heisel also supplied the Reader with a screenshot of his address filing with the Idaho Department of Motor Vehicles, showing a residential address in Clark Fork — though not the same as the rental property that was formerly his home — and a Sandpoint mailing address, with a valid date through 2028.

In his response, Heisel wrote that he has a “private agreement for living there with my parents” at their address in Clark Fork, and, “The complaint also appears to mischaracterize certain family and mailing arrangements. The residence referenced in the filing is associated with my mother-in-law, not my wife,” which is located in the Grouse Creek precinct.

Review of property records and GIS maps confirmed the names and addresses of individuals and parties to whom Heisel referred.

However, in his complaint, Herndon argued that “the statute does not require mere residency in the precinct. It requires that the candidate have been “a registered elector of the voting precinct for a period of six months … preceding his election.”

“Temporary use of family residences, receipt of mail at different addresses or use of P.O. boxes does not change my residency in Clark Fork. My business activities also remain centered in Clark Fork,” Heisel wrote. “I have acted in good faith regarding my voter registration and candidacy filing, and I respectfully request that the challenge be denied.”

He directed a further message to Herndon, specifically, warning him against entering property without permission and “will treat it as trespassing and notify the appropriate authorities” should it happen again.

“Please stop contacting me, my renters and my household by phone, text or email outside of proper channels,” Heisel wrote. “My family members are not to be contacted, approached or subjected to any further harassment in connection with this matter.”

Though Herndon brought the matter of Heisel’s residency to the County Clerk’s Office, Deputy Prosecutor Bill Wilson shared an opinion with Rosedale, Marshall, county counsel Robert Abel and Civil Deputy Prosecutor Nate Adams that, “Without delving into the substantive issues, I do not believe you [Rosedale] are the proper party to adjudicate the dispute. As the clerk, your obligation at this point is to canvass the election. That is strictly a ministerial function, and I do not see any authority that would allow you to invalidate a candidate who successfully ran for office after the fact. Instead, I believe the correct avenue for challenging the election results would be for a qualified elector in that precinct to sue and establish that Mr. Heisel was not eligible to hold office at the time of the election.”

Idaho Secretary of State’s Office spokesperson Joe Parris told the Reader: “Long story short, that is all handled locally at the central committee level.”

As local Republican leaders such as Herndon have repeatedly pointed out in the past, the BCRCC is a private entity with its own bylaws, giving the committee broad powers over how it regulates itself and its members.

Also in his complaint, Herndon cited I.C. 18-2604 to suggest that Heisel’s “voter registration may contain knowingly false information regarding his residence,” which is a felony.

However, if Heisel wished to challenge the vacating of his seat, he would have to do so in district court. Heisel has retained legal counsel and is weighing options, according to reports.

In his May 27 Facebook post, Heisel wrote: “I have been a resident of Clark Fork for my entire life, and I have been a registered voter here since I became eligible to vote. I also own property in Clark Fork, and this has been my home and community for all 28 years of my life.”

Following the May 29 vote at the BCRCC meeting, Rudd declared Heisel’s seat vacant under the committee’s bylaws, and the body intends to appoint a replacement at a future meeting, date to be determined. 

“The deliberations of the executive session will remain confidential,” Rudd added.