His Platform
What he campaigns on. What the documented record shows. Both are sourced. You can verify them yourself.
What He Is Asking Voters to Support
Chad Christensen's 2026 campaign website, under "Issues," states the following positions on criminal justice:
"Push for mandatory minimum sentences for sex crimes, particularly offenses against children. Judges are handing out slaps on the wrist. Chad believes enough is enough."
He has also campaigned publicly against negotiated plea arrangements, presenting plea deals as the kind of soft-on-crime outcome he would eliminate from Idaho's criminal justice system.
These are his stated positions. He has repeated them publicly across social media and campaign appearances. They are the basis on which he is asking East Idaho voters to send him to the Idaho Legislature for a third time.
The documented record below does not require voters to take anyone's word for anything. Every item is drawn from public court records, sworn deposition testimony under oath in Bonneville County District Court, or Idaho Secretary of State filings. The underlying sources are linked throughout.
The McMillan Criminal Case
Ty McMillan was charged in Idaho with the following offenses:
The lewd conduct and incest charges were dismissed. McMillan was convicted of and placed on parole for kidnapping of a minor. The dismissal of the most serious original charges appears to reflect a plea arrangement that reduced his exposure. He was serving parole supervision for the kidnapping conviction at the time relevant to the events below.
Christensen campaigns against plea deals and against judges who give, in his words, "slaps on the wrist" in cases involving crimes against children. The McMillan case resolved with the most serious charges dismissed. He was on parole when what follows occurred.
Iron Rod Construction LLC
On June 5, 2020, Chad Christensen filed Iron Rod Construction LLC with the Idaho Secretary of State. File number 0003901338. Christensen is listed as Registered Agent and Organizer. The member listed as Governor of the LLC is Melissa J., Malad, Idaho.
Melissa J. is the then-wife of Ty McMillan. She used the last name Jeppsen on the filing, her maiden or alternate name, while still legally married to McMillan. The filing is a public record, available at sosbiz.idaho.gov, and can be verified by anyone. View her social profile
Iron Rod Construction LLC, Idaho Secretary of State File #0003901338, filed June 5, 2020. Available at: sosbiz.idaho.gov
What Christensen Admitted Under Oath
In his sworn deposition on August 1, 2023 in Bonneville County District Court Case CV10-21-1197, Christensen confirmed a relationship with Melissa. He described it as beginning in June 2020 — the same month as the Iron Rod Construction filing — and lasting approximately one month.
Q: "Why did that relationship end?"
A: "Because I found out she wasn't actually divorced yet. So I stopped it."
Deposition of Chad Christensen, August 1, 2023, CV10-21-1197, Bonneville County District CourtHe denied a sexual relationship with Melissa. He confirmed the relationship existed while she was still legally married to McMillan. He did not dispute the Iron Rod Construction filing or her name on it.
Christensen has operated Southeast Idaho Investigations, a private investigation business, since at least 2010. Verifying a person's marital status is among the most elementary tasks in that profession. It is a public record search. It takes minutes. He has testified under oath that he did not know she was still married when the relationship began.
Left: Chad Christensen with LDS Second Counselor Henry Eyring, March 2020 (public Facebook post). Right: Iron Rod Construction LLC, filed June 5, 2020, with Ty McMillan's then-wife as co-member.
What Gregory Graf Testified Under Oath
Gregory Graf gave sworn deposition testimony in Bonneville County District Court Case CV10-21-1197. Graf testified that a confidential source provided him with a detailed account of the following events, which he relayed under oath. This is Graf's sworn testimony describing what a source reported. It is not a judicial finding of fact. The deposition transcript pages are reproduced below.
According to Graf's sworn testimony, the source described the following: Ty and Melissa McMillan were supporters of Christensen's 2020 legislative campaign. When Ty McMillan was jailed for a parole violation, Melissa sought Christensen's help. The source reported that Christensen responded by reaching out to Lieutenant Governor Janice McGeachin and writing her a letter on McMillan's behalf. The source further described pressure being applied to the parole officer to retract the violation report. McMillan was released.
The source further reported that McMillan then discovered Christensen had been in a relationship with his wife during the period McMillan was incarcerated. McMillan subsequently contacted multiple elected officials to report what had happened.
In Graf's own words from his sworn deposition:
"Here he is preying upon... in my opinion, preying upon an individual who is a woman who is in a desperate situation, seeking his help, using his position as a representative to give help."
That is Graf's stated opinion, offered under oath. Multiple independent sources, including one with direct knowledge in federal law enforcement, have provided accounts consistent with the sworn deposition testimony above.
Sworn Deposition of Gregory Graf, CV10-21-1197 — Relevant Pages
View deposition p. 75 (Iron Rod Construction) • View deposition p. 76 (Melissa McMillan)
Christensen's documented relationship with Janice McGeachin, whom Graf testified Christensen contacted on McMillan's behalf, is established in public photographs from his 2018 campaign:
Chad Christensen with Janice McGeachin at a 2018 campaign event (public photograph).
The Plea Deals He Used
Christensen campaigns against plea deals. His own documented criminal record includes two separate plea arrangements he has never disclosed to voters.
Q: "What kind of charge was that?"
A: "It was a misdemeanor at first, and then I show up at court and they raised it to a felony."
Q: "How was that resolved?"
A: "Withheld judgment."
Q: "So you entered a plea agreement that they offered you a withheld judgment on it?"
A: "Yes."
Deposition of Chad Christensen, August 1, 2023, pp. 64-65, CV10-21-1197, Bonneville County District CourtChristensen campaigns on mandatory minimum sentences and against plea deals. He entered a plea agreement to resolve a felony-elevated charge in North Dakota at age 34, with a decade of law enforcement background and an active PI license. Four years later he pled a second charge down to a misdemeanor in Bannock County, Idaho, one year before his first run for office. He has never disclosed either to voters.
Ty McMillan's most serious charges — lewd conduct with a child under 16 and incest — were dismissed, an outcome that appears to reflect a plea arrangement. He was subsequently on parole for kidnapping of a minor when, according to sworn deposition testimony in Bonneville County District Court, Christensen wrote to the Lieutenant Governor on his behalf after a parole violation.
The pattern on this page is not one charge. It is a documented gap between what Christensen campaigns on and what the record shows, spanning his own plea history, the McMillan case, and a sworn deposition that covers both.
This page draws from four distinct categories of evidence. Readers are entitled to weigh each category appropriately.
Public court records (Idaho iCourt): McMillan's charges, convictions, and dismissals. Christensen's 2017 Bannock County charge and plea. These are public records verifiable by anyone.
Idaho Secretary of State public filing: Iron Rod Construction LLC, File #0003901338, June 5, 2020. Available at sosbiz.idaho.gov. Verifiable by anyone.
Sworn deposition of Chad Christensen, August 1, 2023, CV10-21-1197: His confirmation of the Melissa relationship and its timing. His confirmation of the North Dakota plea agreement. His own words, under oath, in a Bonneville County court proceeding.
Sworn deposition of Gregory Graf, CV10-21-1197: Graf's testimony about what a confidential source reported regarding Christensen's contact with Lt. Gov. McGeachin and the circumstances of McMillan's parole violation. This is sworn testimony about a source's account — not a judicial finding of fact. Multiple independent sources, including one with direct knowledge in federal law enforcement, have provided accounts consistent with Graf's sworn testimony. The deposition transcript pages are reproduced on this page.
Every factual claim on this page is sourced. The court records are CV10-21-1197, Bonneville County District Court, and CR-2017-12536, Bannock County Magistrate Court. The business filing is available at sosbiz.idaho.gov. Christensen's sworn deposition confirms the relationship and his plea agreements. No claim here is unsourced. Full source documentation is on the Full Record page.