Doorbell camera drama in Idaho is heating up a local school board race between a third term incumbent and the woman playing dirty in her effort to replace him.
Kristi Hardy was caught on camera stealing a flyer last week out of the door jamb of a neighborhood home, where her opponent had just left his own campaign material.
Zone 2 incumbent and Board Chairman James ‘JD’ Grant had stopped by the Kuna house 20 minutes earlier to leave a campaign flyer for the home’s residents.
Hardy was then filmed brazenly snatching it and replacing it with her own, in what she claimed was a ‘moment of weakness’ after being caught by a doorbell camera.
Candidates in small communities often utilize door knocking as a strategy to connect with voters ahead of an election and offer the best pitch of themselves and their platform in order to garner votes.
The pair of opponents stop by the same neighborhood home in Kuna, Idaho just minutes apart
Kristi Hardy is seen on a neighborhood ring camera removing her school board opponent’s flyer from a neighborhood house
Hardy attempted to explain herself after being caught on camera:
‘I walked up to the door, saw my opponent’s flyer stuck in the jam, and I took it – you know – in a moment of weakness.
‘I just took it. It was gonna fall to the ground. And I haven’t seen the video, but I think I folded it up. I really didn’t give it much thought after that to be honest with you. These [flyers] all just land in the trash at some point,’ she said.
In a phone interview, Hardy told a local outlet that she has only done what she was caught on camera doing ‘ a few times.’
‘If I see it in the jamb I put it in my hand.’
She added that about ’90 percent of people have cameras,’ and so if her behavior truly were a reoccurring issue – which she alleges it is not – plenty more videos of her would have found their way to the internet by now.
‘I am sorry. I’ll call him and apologize,’ she said.
Grant was alerted of the incident by friends and supporters on Wednesday, who contacted to tell him how popular the video had become on Facebook.
Kuna, Idaho school board candidates Hardy (left) and Grant (right) got caught up in some petty ring camera business as Hardy was caught removing Grant’s flyer from a neighborhood door
He says this is his third school board election cycle, but it has been singular in terms of how much money has been raised. In response to his opponent’s behavior, he said:
‘I know Kristi. I think she’s a good person and means well. I think she just messed up.’
Hardy has raised some $16,000 for her campaign, while Grant’s effort is entirely privately funded.
He said, following the incident, that he is ‘trying to take the high road.’
‘I want my campaign to stay positive and talk about the good things that are happening in the district.’
Poking fun at herself and the ring camera debacle, Hardy later wrote in a text to KTVB: ‘I have resolved to take a chaperone with me when going door to door from now on!’
Hardy is the owner of local small business Cinderella Dress Rentals, while Grant is a dentist who runs a practice called Avalon dentistry. The latter of the two has already served two terms on the Kuna School Board and coaches football, basketball, and track and field for the district.
School board trustees, who will be elected on November 7, serve a term of four years.
Kuna, Idaho is a fast-growing area in the Boise-metro area of the state.