Caldwell councilman resigned amid scandal as legislator. Now he wants to be mayor
Caldwell City Councilman John McGee, who resigned from the state Senate in 2012 amid accusations that he sexually harassed a female staffer, is running for Caldwell mayor.
McGee was a controversial candidate for the City Council in 2019 in a three-way race that was forced into a runoff, which McGee won easily. Now he hopes to replace longtime Caldwell Mayor Garret Nancolas, who announced in April that he would not seek a seventh term.
McGee was chairman of the Senate’s majority GOP caucus in 2011 when he crashed into a driveway in Meridian and was arrested on a felony charge for stealing an SUV and a misdemeanor charge of drunken driving. The felony charge was dropped, but he pleaded guilty to the DUI and spent a night in jail.
The next year, a legislative staffer accused McGee of propositioning her for sex and sexual harassment during the annual legislative session.
According to the police reports obtained by The Associated Press, McGee asked the staffer to perform oral sex on him, locking the door to his legislative office. She refused, the report said. AP reported that another time McGee called the staffer into his office, locked the door again, and asked her to take her shirt off. The staffer said McGee was masturbating when she left the room.
He resigned on February 22, 2012, before a possible Senate ethics committee investigation.
McGee was charged with felony assault. Jean Fisher, the Ada County deputy prosecutor who handled the sexual harassment allegations, said afterward that the woman did not want a public trial that would accompany prosecuting a felony assault case. In September 2012, he pleaded guilty to disturbing the peace, a misdemeanor.
McGee spent 39 days in jail.
“People in Caldwell have moved past those things from a decade ago,” McGee told the Statesman by phone. “We have been through two elections since that took place. The people of Caldwell made it clear that they want to talk about the future.”
During his 2019 race for the City Council, McGee received endorsements from a number of Republican lawmakers. Former Gov. Butch Otter said that McGee would bring “strong, conservative leadership” to the City Council.
“In today’s day and age and with social media and cancel culture, these things will always be brought up, but I am focused on what is best for the future of Caldwell,” McGee said.
Canyon County candidate filings show that McGee is one of five people seeking the office. The other candidates include Jarom Wagoner, another city councilman; Jorge D. Arancivia; Nicole Hyland; and Chris Trakel, a retired U.S. Marine.
Nancolas served as Caldwell’s mayor for 24 years. He announced in April that he would not seek reelection.
In a 2019 runoff election for his council seat, McGee won with 2,072 votes, or 60.7%, against his opponent, Evangeline “Van” Beechler, then the state chair of the Idaho Democratic Party. McGee’s four-year council term expires in 2023.
“Garret Nancolas has done a great job over the last two decades leading Caldwell to the prosperity we have today,” McGee said. “I think I am the best person to continue that prosperity.”
McGee said that, in the Senate, he introduced and passed legislation to outlaw gang activity in Caldwell and to expand Interstate 84 between Boise and Caldwell.
McGee and his wife, Hanna, own a public relations firm in Caldwell. He is a graduate of Vallivue High School in Caldwell and attended the College of Idaho. He served in the Legislature from 2005 to 2011 and later as chairman of the Canyon County Republican Party Central Committee.
Rachel Spacek covers western Ada and eastern Canyon counties. Have a story suggestion or a question? Email Spacek at rspacek@idahostatesman.com.
This story was originally published September 9, 2021 at 4:00 AM.
