Dale Gibboney’s Race from Retirement to County Commissioner

Disclaimer: This article is intended for informational purposes only and does not represent an endorsement of any candidate. It aims to encourage veterans to actively participate in political life by considering running for office.

My first thought of running for a political office was in late 1969 or early 1970.  I was going through Advanced Infantry Training at Fort Ord, California.  I remember I was in a foxhole talking to my buddy and I said to him that when I go home I think I might run for a political office, maybe city council. After that and over the many years that followed, I never gave it much thought.  I was busy making a living and raising a family. Then came January 2024, when I finally made up my mind to run for political office as Kootenai County Commissioner. 

Before finally deciding to run for commissioner, I had given considerable thought and prayer to whether this was something that God wanted me to do. There were signs that my wife pointed to that indicated that indeed this was something I should do. Not wanting to be like the blond that kept asking God week after week to win the lottery and finally pleading saying, “God, I’ve been praying and have asked you to let me win the lottery but I never do.”  This time God answered her and said, “You can’t win the lottery until you first buy a ticket.”  So, the 2nd of January I filed the paperwork to run for public office.  The primary election is scheduled for May 21, 2024.  I should have started preparing at least a year before if not 20 years before.  I had no campaign structure in place and I didn’t know there was actually a science to the design of yard signs, etc.  I had never been on social media and didn’t want to be.  I was not very polished in public speaking and I knew I would be doing a lot of that.  I did feel confident that it would be easy to speak in front of people and answer questions if I knew the subject matter.  Practically overnight, I went from living a life of retirement to hitting the ground running. 

The campaign began with the initial filing with the Kootenai County elections office, deciding on a name for the campaign “Dale for Commissioner”, obtaining a tax ID number from the iRS, filing with the State of Idaho, opening a bank account, obtaining a P.O. Box for campaign mail and setting up a website (which continues evolve).  Business cards, campaign flyers, pens, and yard signs, lots of them, were ordered.  After which, only to have different people tell me that I needed to add this or change that, all of which seemed to be never ending and, of course, at additional expense.

I started attending the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) meetings every Tuesday and Thursday in the mornings and evenings.  Having been a Los Angeles policeman I asked for the endorsement of the Kootenai County Deputies Association FOP. I asked for tours of the County Jail, 911 Dispatch Center and the current Sheriff’s Station and new facilities. During this process I learned of some big problems that had resulted from lack of foresight, planning and underfunding, essentially defunding the Sheriff’s department. 

During seven of my twelve years at the police department I flew helicopters and after leaving the PD, I had been a professional pilot for nearly thirty years. So, I asked for and received from the Coeur d’Alene Flyers their endorsement. I was also fortunate enough to get the endorsement of the Fernan Rod and Gun Club along with other endorsements from some members of the community.

Then the speaking engagements began. I spoke at all the Republican Clubs, candidate forums, meet and greets, etc.  I set up campaign tables at the gun shows. I really disliked those because I was on my feet for 8 to 10 hours each day.  I could barely make it into bed when I got home at night.  The meet and greets were from the north end of the county to the south end of the county (I learned there are much different concerns from rural areas to the urban areas).  As time went on I was beginning to drag from all the running around and trying to stay up with what was going on at the County Commissioner level. Campaigning was physically tiring as well as mentally tiring. It reminded me of when I was going through Basic Training and AIT and how physically tiring and demanding that was at the time. During the campaign, there were times I just wanted to quit; but I had committed and I had people who believed in me who had expended time and money to help me succeed.  There was no way I could let them down or myself for that matter

A real eye opening experience I had was when I got a look into the inner workings of the different political groups. This is where the back room deals are alive and well.  And, I learned how very important the Political Action Committees (PAC’s) are to a campaign.  

I am fortunate that I had the support and encouragement from my wife.  When I would get off track, she picked me up and got me pointed in the right direction.  Without her there would have been no campaign.  She was my biggest cheerleader. One time I said out loud that I needed a full time staff.  My wife heard me and said, “You have a staff, me and all the others that are helping you.”  I had neighbors and friends who stepped up to help me. Some mornings I would wake up and think there is no way I can win the race as the other candidates have much more name recognition.  Then, I would go to a meeting or even to the store and someone would say, “I know who you are, you have my vote”.  Just one person could change my whole outlook. 

Out of the estimated 30,000 voters for this primary, I’m told that only 1,000 to maybe 2,000 have done any research about the candidates. The others are going on name recognition only.  In thinking back I was only able to talk to a fraction of the people who vote in the primary which made all the mailings and the costly ads a must.  I think that has been my greatest expense.  You just don’t mail to anyone, there is an actual science to it.  I hired a company to target the correct voters.  The first mailers went out to Republicans who requested absentee ballots.  Then a different mailer was sent out to the early voters while at the same time mailers are being sent out to as the absentee voters who are still requesting their ballots up to the deadline.  Then comes the big push with mailers going to the 75% of voters who vote on Election Day.  There were ads placed on Facebook and in newspapers along with campaign text messages. A side note, In addition to the campaign “science”, there is campaign jargon like “universe” (indicating different voter pools, etc.) and “P2P” (phone to phone text messages). The learning curve was steep, but in the end I was up to the task with help from others. 

It has been a hard grind for a 74 year old (although my wife says I am a young 74) who was just starting to get accustomed to retirement.  So, would I do this again?  I don’t know, probably.  My wife would say “Nothing ventured nothing gained.” and that instead of complaining about politics, I should “put my money where my mouth is.” So, I did just that.  Boy did I.  I have met a lot of very nice people that I would not have otherwise met.  I’ve met a lot of great people at the KCSO, both deputies and civilians.  For those of you who are former law enforcement, if you have ever wondered if the next generation is up to the task, the answer is, here in Kootenai County, we are in good hands with the deputies at the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office. We are blessed with them and all the dedicated civilians working there.  

It is concerning that there is such a lack of participation in the political arena by the everyday citizen, especially in local politics.  Somehow, we need to get people more active in local politics before it is too late.  If we don’t start getting control of our government, government will control us.  

PS: Participate, jump into local politics.  It is the only place we can make changes.

For more information about Dale, please visit www.daleforcommissioner.com.