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KENDRICK, Idaho (AP) – Tensions rose during a bipartisan forum this week after an audience question about discrimination reportedly led an Idaho state senator to angrily tell a Native American candidate to “go back where you came from.” “
Republican Sen. Dan Foreman left the event early after the outburst and later denied making any racist comments in a Facebook post. He did not respond to a voice message from The Associated Press seeking comment.
Trish Carter-Goodheart, a Democratic candidate for the House District 6 seat and a member of the Nez Perce Tribe, said she was shaken by the blowup and was thinking about security needs for future public events. It also forced some difficult conversations with her two young children, Avery and Lavender, who were present.
“Having conversations about racism with an 8-year-old and a 5-year-old is not something that my husband Dane and I were prepared for,” Carter-Goodheart said on Friday. “They’ve never seen a grown man melt down like that. They were afraid. I was scared.”
The event was held by Democratic and Republican precinct committee members from the small northern Idaho town of Kendrick on Monday night, The Lewiston Tribune reported. It was for House and Senate candidates from the local area, including Foreman; his Democratic opponent, Julia Parker: Republican Representative Lori McCann; and her Democratic opponent, Carter-Goodheart.
About an hour into the event, someone asked a question about a state bill addressing discrimination. The candidates were given two minutes each to answer, and when it was Carter-Goodheart’s turn, she pushed back on earlier comments that suggested discrimination is not a big problem in Idaho.
He said the state’s hate crime laws are weak, and noted that the neo-Nazi group Aryan Nations has made northern Idaho its home for many years. He also mentioned that the only candidate there was a person of colour.
“I pointed out that just because someone hasn’t personally experienced discrimination doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen,” he said. “I was making my statement, and then he shot up from his seat and said, ‘I’m so sick of your liberal (expletive). Why don’t you go back to where you came from?’”
The Nez Perce Tribe has lived on the Columbia River Plateau in the Pacific Northwest for over 11,500 years, including the area where Kendrick is located. The northern edge of his reservation, although only a small portion of the tribe’s historic territory, is less than 10 miles (16 kilometers) from the Veterans of Foreign Wars hall where the forum was held.
“It was like slow motion,” Carter-Goodheart said. “I remember thinking, ‘Go back to where you came from’? That is within miles of this forum location. We have literally plots of land that are leased to family farms nearby.”
In his Facebook post, Foreman called the event “a quintessential display of race-baiting” and said the Democratic attendees made personal attacks and “declared Idaho a racist state.”
“Well, here’s a news flash for the leftists out there. There is no systemic racism in America or Idaho,” Foreman said. “Idaho is a great state – the best in the Union!”
He then added an attack on abortion rights supporters, saying: “And further, it is immoral and against God’s law to kill unborn babies. You have no right to murder the unborn. There is no such thing as self-proclaimed ‘Women’s Reproductive Rights.’ There is no such body of rights in the state or federal constitutions. And we don’t do designer rights in Idaho. “
During the exchange at the forum, Parker and McCann both said, Foreman stood up and shouted after Carter-Goodheart’s response.
“I stood up and confronted (Foreman) and tried to calm down what was going on,” Parker said.
McCann said Carter-Goodheart’s description of the incident matched her own recollection.
“Her statement is correct,” McCann told the Tribune. “(Carter-Goodheart) leaned over to me and said, ‘Where am I supposed to go?'”
The incident continued for about 20 minutes after Foreman left. Carter-Goodheart said she found herself watching the only door, worried he would come back, and the female candidates checked on each other later.
“I really appreciate that about the people who are running, specifically Lori McCann,” she said. “She is my eldest and I appreciate her and her commitment to our community. We have a big difference in our values and what we want to do for our communities, but she checked in on me and I checked in on her, and it was the right thing to do.”
More candidate forums are planned in the coming weeks, Carter-Goodheart said. League of Women Voters event organizers emailed Carter-Goodheart on Friday to say police would be there as a precaution, she said, and the Idaho Secretary of State’s Office offered guidelines on security measures her campaign can pay for.
“We’ve been told, you know, it’s not a bad idea to have security,” he said. “And we need to have honest discussions about race and discrimination and the inequalities and disparities that exist not only in Idaho but across the country.”
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