Hatch Act forces Kimbrell to end write-in campaign

Monroe Town Board write-in candidate Curtis Kimbrell bowed out of the race this week after learning his candidacy violated the Hatch Act.

The Hatch Act, a federal law passed in 1939, prohibits civil service employees in the executive branch of the federal government (except the president and vice president) from taking part in some forms of political activity.

A civilian employee in the Army, Kimbrell works at West Point as a plans and operations specialist where he manages the schedule and various events that take place at the United States Military Academy. Prior to that, he spent 25 years on active duty in the military and retired as a major in the U.S. Army Signal Corps.

Kimbrell thought he could run because he was not registered with a party

Kimbrell, who has been on the planning board since January, declared a write-in candidacy in early September because the petition window closed. As an Army employee, he thought he was allowed to run because he was not registered with a party.

“It is clear in the Hatch Act that federal employees cannot participate in partisan campaigns,” Kimbrell said. “By not registering with a party, my understanding was I was not partisan. However, I came to learn it is about the office you are running for, not the candidate.”

Kimbrell said that a colleague of his at West Point is on the Monroe-Woodbury Board of Education, which does not have partisan elections.

Before declaring his candidacy, Kimbrell says he received the go ahead from his supervisor.

“I spoke to my supervisor who said, ‘I don’t see any issues with this,’” Kimbrell said. “I know my social media posts recently came up in a meeting at West Point, and somebody said, ‘Can he do that?’ I believe that is when the legal representative for the superintendent said he would look into it. On Monday, my supervisor told me it had been determined that I can’t do this and I would be formally notified by the end of the week that I must cease and desist.”

Kimbrell ended is candidacy on Monday evening

To avoid any consequences, Kimbrell ended his candidacy Monday evening.

“I decided to run because – as a member of the planning board and watching town board meeting public comment – I am becoming familiar with the needs of the community,” Kimbrell said. “I see frustration and blaming previous administrations and I feel we can set aside partisan differences at this level to deal with budgets, infrastructure, water and sewer. We should be looking for solutions as a community. [Running again] is something I’d consider. The tagline for my campaign was ‘Monroe is better together’ and I would vote for anyone who comes out on that line.”

Kimbrell and his wife moved to Monroe in 2015. They have five children, ages 16 to 27.
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