Dueling endorsements. Attack ads. Campaigns for Canyon prosecutor reflect GOP discord

Canyon County voters will soon select a new prosecuting attorney. Candidates Christopher Boyd and Greg Chaney, one a prosecutor and the other a defense attorney, come from different sides of their courtroom — and they represent different factions in the Republican Party.

Boyd, 43, said he has spent most of his career preparing a run for Canyon County prosecutor. Chaney, 42, a former state lawmaker, said he has always felt called to public service.

Both candidates said they will be tough on criminals. But Chaney, of Caldwell, has emphasized rehabilitation, arguing that the criminal justice system should help low-level offenders “be a better version of themselves moving forward.” Boyd, on the other hand, has pushed for “justice for crime victims.” His mother was a victim of child abuse and never truly recovered, he said.

The local prosecutors’ race has become more high-profile than the two candidates had imagined, or hoped for, they said in separate interviews with the Idaho Statesman. Each received endorsements from Idaho attorneys general, and both have been targeted by negative advertising.

Chaney speculated that the race has broader implications for the Republican Party. He represents the more moderate wing of the Idaho GOP, while Boyd is the preferred candidate of hard-right politicians, including Attorney General Raúl Labrador.

Boyd has raised more than twice as much campaign money as Chaney, filings show.

Boyd moves to Nampa, still prosecutes Adams County cases

Boyd said, “I went to law school to become a prosecutor.” And after graduating from University of Idaho College of Law he became one, first as a deputy prosecutor in Canyon County for four years in Prosecutor Bryan Taylor’s office starting in 2013, then as prosecuting attorney for Adams County starting in 2018.

Boyd said he left Canyon County for Adams County — home to Council, New Meadows and the Hells Canyon Scenic Byway — to learn more about the municipal and civil law responsibilities of an elected prosecutor. He said he never wanted to run for election against Taylor but “wanted to be prepared for when the time came.”

Boyd, who moved to Nampa in January, said he is still prosecuting cases for Adams County on a contract basis until the county finds a new prosecutor.

“I’ve always loved Canyon County,” Boyd said.

Taylor decided not to seek reelection this year. He told the Statesman in an email that it was the best decision for him and his family. He said he briefly considered resigning mid-term but decided against it. He declined to comment further on his choice, saying he wanted voters to focus on the two candidates.

When Boyd got a call from Taylor in October encouraging him to run, he said, he was interested, but it was Sheriff Kieran Donahue who helped him decide. Donahue later endorsed Boyd. Taylor said he also spoke to Chaney when he was considering a run for the office. Taylor has not endorsed either candidate.

Boyd said he worked closely with Donahue on a 2017 murder and hate crime, where Jayson Woods organized the murder of Steven Nelson, a gay man.

“(Donahue and I) have a good connection going back to that (trial),” Boyd said. “He just knows that I fight for cases and that I really truly care. It was his encouragement that made me come down (to run).”

Boyd said he hopes to repair the relationship between Taylor’s office and the Canyon County Commission. The county made headlines in recent weeks when the commissioners said they lost trust in the prosecutor over an outside investigation into an open meeting law violation that Taylor alleged they committed.

Boyd hopes to rebuild that trust and “loyalty.”

“My commitment is that … they won’t have someone politically sniping at them,” he said.

He added that he would be fair if there are allegations of wrongdoing in the commissioners’ offices, and he would turn over any cases involving elected officials to outside prosecutors, as Taylor did in the open meeting law case.

“I would work well with the county commissioners, whoever they are, and have a good relationship with them and try to keep them out of trouble,” he said.

Boyd has raised over $20,000 in campaign donations, according to the Idaho SOS campaign finance portal.

The largest donations came from the Idaho Families Political Action Committee, which is run by Emily McClure, a charter school lobbyist; and Think Liberty Idaho PAC, run by John Heida, a Canyon County precinct committeeman, and which “supports individual freedom, limited government, fiscal responsibility, the rule of law,” according to its website. Both donated $1,000. He also received $1,000 donations from individual donors.

Chaney represented Caldwell in Legislature

Chaney Law Firm, in Caldwell, is busy these days, Chaney said, and winning the prosecutor’s race would mean a pay cut, but he wants to serve Canyon County residents and ensure the prosecutors office remains an apolitical body that treats “everyone fairly no matter what.”

“There are more contested prosecuting attorney races than normal around the state, and I think there’s a concerted effort to politicize the PA’s office,” he said.

He said Taylor has done a good job keeping the office apolitical.

During his eight years in the Idaho Legislature, Chaney was known for his willingness to depart from of his own party, like former Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin, who protested Gov. Brad Little’s stay-home order in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

He represented Caldwell in the Idaho House of Representatives until he ran for a Senate seat in 2022 and lost the GOP primary to Chris Trakel, who went on to win the November election.

Chaney said he built his career on “the pursuit of justice” and hopes to continue it in the prosecutors office. He sees Canyon County as a place that takes crime seriously while also looking “at each other like neighbors.” He recognizes that low level offenders may need rehabilitation over criminalization, in order to return and be successful in society.

“Unless you’re a murderer or a child molester, you’re going to be reentering the community,” Chaney said. “While the immediate priority is protecting the safety of the crime victim, long term care needs to be used to solve some of the issue.”

Supporters of Boyd have criticized Chaney’s lack of experience prosecuting crimes. But he says his experience managing other attorneys’ case loads and his law firm and his time as chairman of the Legislature’s Judiciary, Rules, and Administration Committee have prepared him to ovesee the prosecutor’s 93 employees.

Where Boyd hopes to repair the relationship between the commissioners and prosecutor’s office, Chaney sees the more important relationship as the one between the prosecutor and the public.

Prosecuting attorneys have a special code of ethics, Chaney said, that requires they “first and foremost seek justice, irrespective of where that goes, irrespective of who needs to be prosecuted or who needs to have charges dropped. Justice is No. 1.”

He said that means fighting for crime victims and law enforcement, but at the core the obligation has to be to justice.

When it comes to county elected officials, Chaney said the prosecutor’s job is to “say what the law is, not necessarily help find a path around the law to accomplish any policy preference.”

Chaney raised over $9,500 in campaign donations, with large checks from Crookham Co.; Idaho Chooses Life, a PAC that supports pro-life candidates, and himself.

Labrador backs one candidate, Wasden the other

Boyd is backed by at least two county commissioners. Brad Holton and Zach Brooks signed his petition for candidacy, and Brooks donated to his campaign, according to the Idaho secretary of state’s campaign finance portal.

Boyd said he is most proud of his endorsements from law enforcement, like the Nampa Police Department.

“What I love about it are those professional endorsements,” he said. “They’re not about politics. I’m really proud of having law enforcement endorsements, because those are people that have worked with me.”

Boyd also has an endorsement from Labrador, who wrote in a statement: “Chris is the only candidate with prosecuting experience in this race. Chris has an unblemished record of standing shoulder-to-shoulder with law enforcement for crime victims. By contrast his opponent has never prosecuted a single case, has a criminal record, and is completely unqualified for the position.”

Chaney was endorsed by former Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden, who is also his campaign finance chair.

“Greg is committed to the rule of law above all else,” Wasden said in a statement. “I have seen him stand up for truth and the law even in the face of fierce political opposition. I have no doubt that as a prosecuting attorney, he will make justice his top priority and won’t let politics interfere with doing what’s right.”

Negative ads from new local PAC target Chaney

Labrador’s statement is the tip of the iceberg of negativity in the prosecutor’s race. On Sunday, a group called the Idaho Citizens Against Foolish Politics ran an advertisement in the Idaho Press with Chaney’s mugshot from an arrest stemming from an alteracation with his former wife in 2009 and called him “a mistake waiting to happen.”

The Idaho Citizens Against Foolish Politics PAC is a new PAC run by Kevin E. Dinius, an employment lawyer who runs Dinius and Associates in Nampa. Dinius made headlines in 2016 when he signed onto a case to defend two Adams County deputies who shot a 62-year old rancher in Council.

The Idaho Citizens Against Foolish Politics PAC spent over $6,000 on negative advertising against Chaney in the Idaho Press and with two radio-station operators, Townsquare Media and Iliad Media Group. The PAC has run negative advertising only against Chaney, according to campaign finance documents. The PAC is funded mostly through a $6,170 loan from David P. Ford of Nampa and $100 from Dinius.

Chaney was arrested and convicted of disturbing the peace and malicious injury to property in 2009. The charges stemmed from an argument between Chaney and his then-girlfriend, now-ex wife. Chaney said he grabbed her phone, which slightly cut one of her fingers. He also said he punched a hole in the wall.

Chaney had little money at the time and drank heavily to try to fall asleep, he told the Statesman. He denies that he pushed his ex-wife, but police reports from the time say he “pushed and shoved” her.

The couple later divorced, and Chaney eventually got custody of their child.

In a 2014 interview with the Statesman, Chaney said, “I was not being the person I was created to be, the person I wanted to be.”

He said his experience in the criminal justice system informed the way he practices law now, but that doesn’t mean he gives offenders more leeway.

“As long as the consequences are severe enough to communicate the need for a change, that the goal of criminal justice, to create people who are the better versions of themselves,” Chaney said.

Chaney also filed for bankruptcy in 2003 and again in 2012 after he and his then-wife divorced, and he racked up hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical debt. “It was overwhelming,” he said.

He said the appointments were for medical treatment for his then-wife.

Boyd said it is fair to question a candidate’s qualifications and criminal history, but he doesn’t like the tone of negativity in the campaigns.

“I’ve been subjected to some of the same treatment by my opponent,” Boyd said. “He’s actually said quite a few negative things about me that are not even true. And I don’t want to dwell on that.”

Boyd rejected Little’s pandemic stay-home order

The Canyon County prosecutor’s race has similarities to the 2022 Idaho Republican primary for attorney general, when Labrador beat Wasden, Idaho’s longest-serving attorney general and later won the general election. In the primary, Labrador criticized Wasden’s relationship with the Idaho Legislature, which disagreed with some of his legal opinions, and Wasden’s refusal to join other state’s lawsuits over the 2020 presidential election.

Labrador also criticized Little’s response to the coronavirus pandemic and his stay-home order. Boyd made similar criticisms at the time. He sent a letter to Little in April 2020 refusing to issue citations for people who were out of compliance with the order.

“While I genuinely believe your intent is to safeguard the lives of Idahoans, the order infringes upon sacred First Amendment rights, most particularly the right to peacefully assemble as well as the free exercise of religion,” Boyd wrote.

Boyd stands by his statement and said he hopes no one has to experience the consequences of the pandemic again.

Chaney sees the prosecutor’s race as a fight for the heart of the Republican Party.

“It’s become symbolic to a certain degree of the intra-party struggle,” he said.

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