The Rest: Did Democrat Legislative Candidate Swap Violate Idaho Law?

By Greg Pruett • July 20, 2024

Claim

Two Idaho Democratic legislative candidates have been accused of violating Idaho law by withdrawing from their post-primary legislative races and being reappointed to different legislative races.

Toni Ferro is a Democrat candidate who was running for State Senate in District 11 against Republican candidate Camille Blaylock. Anthony Porto is a Democrat candidate who was running for State House in District 11 (Seat A) against Republican candidate Kent Marmon. Ferro and Porto withdrew from their legislative races to swap to different races.

Ferro was re-appointed to challenge Marmon, while Porto was re-appointed to challenge Blaylock.

Evidence

On June 18, the VoteIdaho.gov website showed Ferro and Porto’s withdrawal and appointment. A screenshot is below.

The Idaho Code that deals with the withdrawal of candidates is IC 34-717. In Subsection 2, it reads,

“Any candidate who has filed a statement of withdrawal pursuant to this section shall not be allowed to be appointed to fill a vacancy unless such vacancy occurs because of the death of a previous candidate.”

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When Idaho Dispatch spoke with the Idaho Secretary of State’s office, they informed Idaho Dispatch that the move to swap candidates was illegal under this state statute.

The Rest

The Idaho SOS office also told Idaho Dispatch that someone within their office told the candidates that the swap was okay. The SOS office has taken responsibility for the error.

However, Idaho Dispatch was informed that an official decision on how to remedy the issue has not been determined, and the SOS office says it is in contact with the Idaho Attorney General’s office on how to proceed.

To date, neither Democrat candidate has responded to Idaho Dispatch’s request for comment, and neither candidate appears to have posted any response on social media.

Note

While traditional media outlets have created “fact check” processes that often rely on their personal biases, Idaho Dispatch aims to provide readers with fact-checked stories that don’t rely on our personal opinions but provide “The Rest” of the story. We hope we can provide you with evidence and information so you can make an informed decision about an issue. If you have additional evidence to add to this fact check, please submit it to info@idahodispatch.com.