Amid an ongoing investigation of election fraud, Paso Robles school board candidate Hunter Breese denied the allegations agaisnt him and accused his incumbent opponent of violating federal law under the U.S. Postal Service.
“Following an anonymous tip to authorities, several false statements and allegations have been made by my opponents regarding my eligibility to run for the PRJUSD (Paso Robles Joint Unified School District) school board,” Breese wrote in a letter to the Paso Robles Press. “I would like to set the record straight with facts, not innuendo.”
Breese did not respond to New Times’ repeated requests for comment.
As a recent Paso Robles High School graduate and first-time PRJUSD school board candidate, Breese is facing allegations of election fraud thanks to a complaint submitted to the SLO County District Attorney’s Office in late September that questioned whether he actually lived at the address listed on his application.
According to voter registration documents, Breese changed his address to a location on Red Cloud Road in District 3 on July 23, 2024, before applying for candidacy on Aug. 9. The residence is owned by Sharon Johnson, who is engaged to school board member Kenney Enney, who publicly supports Breese’s campaign.
In the letter, Breese said that he signed a two-year lease to reside at the Red Cloud Road address in May.
“I registered to vote at this address in July 2024,” he wrote.
He said that both the SLO County Clerk-Recorder and SLO County Superintendent of Schools confirmed that his registration was valid based on the documents he presented.
Breese then pointed to his opponent, current board member Nathan Williams, and claimed that Williams, among others, had used “underhanded political tactics” to prevent people from voting for him.
“If you had concerns about my eligibility, why not act like adults and address the matter with me directly before rushing to the authorities?” he asked. “Why raise this issue now, knowing full well that the authorities will not have time to investigate before Election Day, leaving false allegations hanging over me?”
Williams told New Times that he wasn’t involved with the complaint and didn’t go to the media about it.
“I don’t want to deal with any of this nonsense. I don’t want to be a part of this,” he said. “I didn’t file a complaint. I didn’t work with the author of the complaint.”
Breese’s letter claims that he has photographic proof of Williams opening private mailboxes on Red Cloud Road near Breese’s residence.
“Besides being a federal offense, this suggests Mr. Williams is desperate to catch me in a lie because he lacks confidence in winning the election fairly,” the letter said. “As a result, he has been reported to the U.S. Postal Service, which will take appropriate action.”
According to a copy of that complaint, Enney reported Williams’ alleged violation to the Postal Inspection Service claiming Williams had been walking around Red Cloud Road illegally placing campaign materials in various mailboxes.
Under federal law, it is illegal to deposit unstamped mailable matter in mailboxes, a crime punishable by a $300 fine per offense.
Enney did not reply to New Times’ requests for comment.
Williams said he sees this accusation as a way to deflect from Breese’s own ongoing allegations.
“If you look at the sequence of events, allegations were made against [Breese], whether founded or not, it’s not my business,” he said. “And then immediately afterwards, himself and [Enney] went out of their way to try to deflect it and turn it around on me.”
Williams said he wasn’t aware that he was breaking the law and had not been contacted by the Postal Inspection Service as of Oct. 30.
“And even if I [was contacted], there was no malicious intent,” he said. Δ
This article appears in Oct 31 – Nov 10, 2024.