Liberty or Lose - The partisan PAC trying to influence nonpartisan school and library boards
Love Lives Here has learned that Jim Riley, a Smith Valley School Board member and entrepreneur, is intentionally trying to inject partisan politics into school board races across the state.
What you should know
Riley’s political action committee (PAC), Liberty or Lose, is providing layers of support for school board candidates, including a one-stop shop called My Campaign Online for campaign needs like yard signs and website creation. An associated partner called the 1776 Syndicate offers coaching and training for candidates. Our concern with the type of support Riley is offering is that it is clearly partisan, it echoes anti-government and pro-militia language, and it appears to be trying to turn nonpartisan community institutions into partisan battlegrounds.
We need our schools and school boards to be nonpartisan spaces where all community members can work alongside each other no matter which boxes we check on our ballots. Instead of building a stronger community on shared values, we are seeing partisan operatives in groups like Liberty or Lose try to divide and distract us with talking points created by national organizations to further their agendas.
Our community and our students deserve to have leaders who want to build a better future for all residents, not one faction of a political party. We have seen the destructive and unnecessary consequences of these partisan takeover attempts with the appointment of Annie Bukacek to the Flathead City-County Board of Health and the appointment of Heidi Roedel, Doug Adams, and David Ingram to the ImagineIF Library Board.
We need to speak up and protect the public, nonpartisan spaces in our communities that were designed to serve all residents, no matter what political beliefs, religion, ethnic background, physical abilities, or connection with the LGBTQ+ community they have. There is no reason why an organization that sells t-shirts saying, "I do not coparent with the government,” should have the power to take over our school boards and make extremist ideology a normal part of our community.
The proof
Here’s how Love Lives Here discovered that Liberty or Lose is supporting school board candidates.
This is taken from the website of a current school board candidate in the Flathead Valley. You can see the link to My Campaign Online at the very bottom of the image.
2. Click the link for My Campaign Online, and you end up at the My Campaign Online website. Click on “Partners.”
3. Under the Partners tab, you’ll find buttons to connect to Liberty or Lose and 1776 Syndicate.
4. The Liberty or Lose website is full of indicators that Riley is following an ideology called county supremacy. County supremacy follows a distorted interpretation of the U.S. Constitution, claiming that the federal government is illegitimate and local government entities, like county commissions and county sheriffs, have the most authority. That concept would raise red flags for most people, so county supremacy supporters talk about their love of freedom, liberty, and the Constitution instead, hoping to draw people into pro-militia ideology slowly. You can read more about county supremacy here or click here to register for a webinar by the Montana Human Rights Action Network on the same topic.
The Liberty or Lose PAC is clearly partisan, repeatedly referencing the need to become active in the Republican Party. However, they openly mention targeting nonpartisan school board races.
5. Additional information on the site reveals an extreme partisan agenda, followed by plans to place supporters on school boards and library boards. Note that John Fuller is a Montana Representative who sponsored most of the anti-LGBTQ+ bills that specifically targeted youth in the 2021 Montana Legislative Session. He has also made public comments at a few ImagineIF Library trustee meetings in support of censorship.
6. If you click on the Liberty or Lose link, you will see t-shirts that you can purchase to support the PAC. Two options include messages that don’t really match with the expectations community members have for school board members and public schools: “Black Rifles Matter” and “Make America Trump Again.”
Why this matters
While the Liberty or Lose PAC has the right to exist, voters in the Flathead have every right to know that they intend to fill intentionally nonpartisan boards and institutions with partisan operatives who are pushing a very specific political agenda. As we have seen with Annie Bukacek on the school board and Heidi Roedel, Doug Adams, and David Ingram on the ImagineIF Library board, these inexperienced politically-driven agents can cause a lot of harm in a very short period of time.
Flathead County is struggling to find a qualified health officer because of Bukacek’s presence on the board. The ImagineIF Library will likely lose funding and donors due to their irresponsible decisions. At the same time, they seem determined to give themselves the power to remove books from the library collection, which could trigger a lawsuit.
As you vote this year, please be aware of how extremist groups are trying to make their beliefs more common and accepted in Montana.
PLEASE remember to turn in your ballots to your local school district by 8 pm. If you haven’t received a ballot or registered to vote, there’s still time! Ballots have already been mailed out, so you'll need to register and get your ballot in person. Here's how.
1. Register to vote at the Flathead County Election Department, 40 11th Street West, Suite 230, Kalispell. They will give you a document certifying that you are a registered voter.
2. Bring that letter to the main office of your local school district (superintendent’s office), and they will give you a ballot.
Questions? Please email Love Lives Here at info@loveliveshereflathead.org.