BEACH CITY, Texas – A former candidate for City Council in the community of Beach City in Chambers County has been arrested, accused of election fraud.
Kyle Diamond, of Beach City, was taken into custody on Jan. 18. He is facing an election fraud charge.
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According to the sheriff’s office, the investigation began in late Oct. 2023. It was reported to the Chambers County Sheriff’s Office by County Clerk Heather Hawthorne, who suspected someone was tampering with the City Council election for Beach City. At the time there were multiple complainants and all suspected it to be a candidate in the City Council election.
“Last year, Chambers County created an election integrity task force made up of District Attorney Cheryl Lieck Henry, County Attorney Ashley Cain Land, County Clerk Heather Hawthorne, and Sheriff Brian Hawthorne. The Chambers County election integrity task force reviewed the information given by the complainants to then give direction to the detectives. A criminal investigation clearly led to the suspect that had been identified by the original complainants,” the sheriff’s office said.
During the investigation, multiple Beach City residents came forward and said someone had placed what appeared to be a falsified official election document in their mailboxes. The sheriff’s office said the documents appeared to be intended to sway the residents of Beach City to not go vote on election day due to the election being canceled. This same document is what caused the task force investigation because weeks prior it had been emailed to multiple registered voters of Beach City.
The sheriff’s office was able to identify Diamond as the suspect thanks to multiple homeowner’s security videos and other information. An evidentiary search warrant confirmed emails and other electronic evidence along with campaign signs of his opponents in his possession. An arrest warrant was requested and granted to take Diamond into custody on the election fraud charge.
“During this investigation, it was brought to the attention of detectives that Diamond had not only run for the City Council prior but had also worked at the Texas State Capitol and for an Austin-based political consulting firm,” the sheriff’s office said.
“I have the responsibility to ensure safe and secure elections and report any irregularities to the DA and Sheriff’s Office. Whether it’s a local election or national election, election integrity is the basis of our democracy,” said Chambers County Clerk Heather Hawthorne.
“I am proud of the work done by detectives and the Elections Integrity Task Force, and will prosecute this and any future election-related crimes to the fullest extent to ensure election integrity in Chambers County,” said Chambers County Attorney Ashley Cain Land.
“Election integrity is paramount to our democracy. Many election laws are misdemeanors and it is because of people like Kyle Diamond that myself and others will go back to Austin urging this type of crime and others like it to be a felony offense,” said District Attorney Cheryl Lieck Henry.