Sheriff candidate decries campaign attacks

Politics, as most Americans realize all too well, is a dog-eat-dog type business.

The antics involved with campaigning have led to accusations of all makes as opponents in many races seek to disparage and disgrace each other via often escalating levels of vitriol.

In the past, the vitriol and accusations have been mostly contained to those seeking office, with the expected level of support among the voters also laced with rumors and innuendos of alleged acts that make their opponent unworthy of holding office.

Increasingly, with the assistance of computers and the wide range of graphics and social media influence available to the average person, those attacks have shifted to some among the voting ranks themselves.

And their accusations, sometimes backed by fabricated documents, can often make a difference before anyone challenges their truth or viability.

Montana is not immune to such attacks.

“They send documents and other fake accounts of a person’s life,” said Christopher Stough, a recent candidate for Sanders County sheriff who says he was the target of such attacks. “This is these people’s M/O, it’s what they do.”

These attacks, Stough said, are often last-minute attempts to derail a campaign. Nationally, it is known as an “October surprise.”

Stough said he went through the process this year as he sought, unsuccessfully, to qualify for the finals of the sheriff race. And while he does not blame his finish this year on a series of rumors and attacks to which he says he has been subjected in the past several months, he called the attacks possible “criminal defamation.”

Rumors have circulated for several months about at least one sheriff candidate who allegedly had an extensive arrest record for everything from DUI incidents to aggravated assault to misdemeanor traffic offenses. And family members, Stough said, are not spared the abuse.

Another candidate for sheriff reportedly had photos of himself on a motorcycle extending his middle finger as a reason he would be unfit for public office.

“It can be very disparaging,” Stough said. “This same thing happened two years ago when I ran for office in Sanders County. This year once again a guy shows up with documents accusing me of everything, none of which are true.”

In the course of this year’s campaign, Stough claimed that he has been dogged by a former associate and ex-husband of Stough’s current wife. The alleged accuser, Raymond Kree Kirkman, who several years ago drew national attention for using a bulldozer to level the house he and his soon-to-be ex-wife had been living, has become a continuous source of at least some of the accusations, Stough said.

Raymond, formerly of Washington state, is now a resident of the Heron area in northwest Sanders County, the same general area in which Stough currently resides.

On the Monday evening before this year’s election, the Valley Press received an email containing two attachments that when printed seemed to be official looking legal documents detailing numerous arrest on numerous charges allegedly racked up by Stough while he was living in Larimer County, Colorado several years ago.

When the documents authenticity and truthfulness were researched by the Valley Press via Colorado and state of Montana records departments, every category of possible criminal or civil wrongdoing against Stough was deemed to be false. No convictions or incarceration of any kind showed up during the record search.

“We are in the process of pursuing civil and criminal charges against this individual,” Stough said. “I had never run for any office until two years ago and I didn’t really want to run this year until I spoke with several influential people who said I would be a good candidate”.

Currently an employee of the Department of Defense, Stough said he’s not sure if he will run again.

In the meantime Kirkman has been ordered by the courts to stay away from Stough and his family. Stough alleges that Kirkman has violated those orders numerous times.

Stough quickly admits that several years ago he did get stopped by police for suspicion of driving under the influence, but those charges were dropped. Records reports obtained by the Valley Press support that claim.

In the meantime, Stough said he and others who have experienced such unsubstantiated accusations are going to have to fight back and “nip this kind of stuff in the bud”.

“I’m pretty resilient,” he said. “Not being Sheriff of Sanders County is not going to define my life. I don’t know if I’ll run again, there is a pretty toxic environment with this stuff in Sanders County”.

He added, “the battles in this county are mind-boggling.”