Originally posted on IdahoEdNews.org on October 31, 2025

JEROME, ID – A Jerome County farmer who used grassroots efforts to oppose a local school levy learned some lessons this year about Idaho’s campaign finance laws.

News of his tactics reached all the way to Secretary of State Phil McGrane, and a meeting with Idaho’s elections guru.

“I told the secretary of state, ‘This is crap,'” Dean Dimond repeated to EdNews. “A person should be allowed to campaign against a measure without worrying about the state coming after him.”

McGrane knows Dimond well, and has tried to steer Dimond and his allies in what is a very regulated space.

“All the rules are the same, and it’s just for transparency,” McGrane said. “So that people know where the source of the message is coming from.”

Dimond, a self described “dirt farmer,” raises hay, grain, corn and a few head of cattle near the Minidoka National Historic Site. He is known in the area for his staunch opposition to the Lava Ridge Wind Project.

He’s also infamous for opposing Valley School District levies that would increase property taxes to pay teacher salaries. And his efforts don’t necessarily comply with the law, or they at least test protocol.

It’s been a year-long feud

The battles against the Valley district started in May, when Dimond posted homemade signs on his property to oppose a $600,000, two-year levy. The levy failed by just seven votes.

Some of Dimond’s allies ran into trouble over a mailer during that election cycle. They didn’t report their expenses to the state, which the law requires for any election spending over $100, and the mailers didn’t say who paid for them, another state requirement. Dimond’s cardboard, hand-painted signs also didn’t say he paid for them.

“It should still say, ‘Paid for by,'” McGrane said of a handmade sign.

Dimond is taking a different approach in this election, as he again opposes Valley’s levy ask.

Dimond filed an independent expenditure report on Oct. 3 with the secretary of state’s office claiming $5,000 in expenses. But he actually spent just 3% of that, about $160, on 20 signs.

He said he overreported so other levy opponents wouldn’t get in trouble if they put up signs or sent mailers without reporting to the state. They could just claim Dimond paid for it.

“If you’re going after us because we’re not reporting … I’m going to register at your office and I’m going to say I’m spending $5,000,” Dimond said. “If anybody comes in and questions — somebody puts out a mailer or whatever — just say I bought it.”

EdNews asked both McGrane and Jerome County Clerk Cy Lootens about Dimond’s strategy.

“Very chivalrous of him,” Lootens said.

McGrane said his predecessor, Ben Ysursa, used to say that no one ever gets in trouble for overreporting. But, he added, Elon Musk can’t report on behalf of all Americans.

“We want transparency at its core,” McGrane said. “Now we also want accurate reporting, which I think is maybe the question.”

Lootens said he could investigate the apparent overreporting if someone files a complaint with his office, but that hasn’t happened.

“I don’t think you can just do a catchall — ‘If anyone gets in trouble just blame me.'” Lootens said. “I don’t think that’s how that works.”

Overreporting isn’t the only eyebrow-raising antic by Dimond this month. His 20 printed signs didn’t say who paid for them.

Lootens said he saw a sign opposing the levy on Oct. 13. He snapped a picture on his phone and asked some patrons who it belonged to, because it didn’t say who paid for it.

“I’m not trying to get anybody in trouble,” Lootens said. “I just want to make sure everybody’s following the rules.”

Since then, Dimond has added “Paid for by Dean Dimond” stickers on some, but not all, of his 20 signs. He couldn’t find some after handing them out to friends and neighbors.

Valley Superintendent Ty Jones said he’s been careful to follow the rules as he circulates information about the levy.

“We follow the rules and the laws as they’re supposed to be set up,” Jones said. “We would hope that other people do that as well.”

Dimond’s beef with the levy is there are not enough details.

The ballot states $270,000 of the $300,000 levy each year would go towards salaries and benefits. Dimond filed a public records request with the district asking for the specific staff positions the levy would cover. Jones told EdNews he doesn’t have that information, but the state only provides enough funding for a certain number of teachers. Idaho school districts often need more than that.

“We need a few extra teachers, and so that’s what it goes towards, but no positions or teachers specifically,” Jones said.

That lack of specificity is one of Dimond’s reasons for opposing the levy.

“If you’re not going to tell me how it’s going to be spent, I’m going to fight you on it,” Dimond told EdNews.

Dimond is the state’s top spender, according to his reporting

Dimond’s $5,000 is the highest amount reported for the November election in opposition of school bonds and levies, according to the secretary of state’s campaign finance database. It’s more than any other individual, PAC or central committee.

But he’s actually spent just $160.

“I might be in trouble,” Dimond said. “But I tried really hard to put it in my registration. I told the secretary, I told Phil himself, that I was gonna register for up to $5,000.”

In comparison, the Blaine County Common Sense PAC this month spent $934 in advertisements to oppose a $7.7 million, two-year supplemental levy in Blaine County School District. The PAC’s chair, Leslie Manookian, is the subject of a recent ProPublica story on the anti-vaccine movement in Idaho. Treasurer Sarah Lurie is the publisher of the conservative digital news outlet 5b Gazette.

To the north, the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee spent $400 to oppose the $7 million, two-year supplemental levy in the Kellogg School District.

Idaho districts are seeking $159 million in property tax increases from 33 bonds and levies Tuesday.

Less support

Based on other Idaho Sunshine filings, it appears a Blaine County PAC may be the sole supporter of school ballot measures in November.

Vote Yes for Schools PAC in September spent $1,423 to support the Blaine supplemental levy. Chair Molly Page said the group has spent about $6,000 so far this month. But due to Idaho’s filing deadlines, total spending reporting is not required until Nov. 10, the Monday after Election Day.

“It’s really just been a group of volunteers,” Page told EdNews on Wednesday.

The group bought newspaper ads, yard signs, banners and mailers, all of which clearly state who paid for them and include the name of the treasurer.

For Dimond, the requirement to include who pays for yard signs and mailers comes down to how much is spent. If someone spends $100, he said he doesn’t think it matters. But it’s a different story if a group spends $10,000.

“I think it can be helpful to know that it’s an out-of-state PAC or whatever else,” he said.

But McGrane said it doesn’t matter if you’re a billionaire or a farmer. The law is impartial.

“People have a right to know who’s behind that,” McGrane said.

Election Day is Nov. 4.