Griping about Californians moving to Idaho? If it’s politics, get your facts straight.

If there’s one recreational activity that Idahoans enjoy as much as hunting, fishing and camping, it’s jumping up and down and screaming about California transplants.

After living in the Treasure Valley for a few years, even California transplants start doing it. That’s hilarious.

It’s mostly predictable growth stuff, right? “Californians clog traffic with their mall terrain vehicles!” Or depressed grumbles about wealth disparity: “Californians jack up housing prices so much that natives can’t afford to buy one!”

But there’s one particular political rant that makes me wince. Because it’s wrong. “Californians threaten Idaho values by bringing their failed liberal ideology here!”

Surveys conducted by Boise State say flat-out otherwise.

“The people, in general, who are moving here are mostly Republicans,” says political scientist Jeffrey Lyons, assistant professor at BSU’s School of Public Service.

That includes Californians.

The numbers don’t lie, Idaho. So we shouldn’t, either.

Maybe this surprises you. Or maybe you’ve heard it before. I made the same point a couple of years ago. But with Idaho’s influx of newcomers showing no signs of slowing — and American politics getting loonier each day — I wondered whether the latest data from BSU might show things trending differently.

Nope. The political makeup of folks moving to Idaho still appears to be roughly the same as the political makeup of folks already living in Idaho, Lyons says. That observation is supported by the newest statewide survey of 1,000 random residents, which was done around Thanksgiving.

The insights are fascinating.

Survey says: Republican

Of all people who moved to Idaho in the past decade — 204 of them in the survey — about 60 percent were Republicans, 28 percent were Democrats and 12 percent were Independents, according to the study.

Of those who moved from California to Idaho at any point in time — 152 people — it’s 57 percent Republican, 31 percent Democrat and 12 percent Independent.

Of Californians who moved to Idaho in the past decade — we’re down to 37 folks — it’s nearly identical: 57 percent Republicans, 32 percent Democrats, 11 percent Independents.

So you might actually want more Californians to move here if you lean right. Right?

In case you hadn’t noticed, these sample sizes start to become less than optimal when you drill down to transplants. “I am nervous about small samples,” Lyons says, “when it’s, like, a one-off.

“But at this point, this is the sixth year we’ve been doing the survey. It’s at least the fifth year we’ve been asking these questions about people moving here.

“We just keep seeing the same thing,” Lyons says. “That generally tells me we’re picking up something real here.”

Look, I know it’s cathartic to complain about Californians. Humans love having a boogeyman. As I’ve watched Boise’s population swell during my three decades here, I’ve possibly griped about Californians once or twice myself. (My wife, who was born in Coronado, has relatives in the Golden State. I have to tread carefully.)

But claiming that California newcomers are making Idaho more liberal? That’s a wacko conspiracy theory on the level of Jewish laser beam wildfires.

Retirement, education

Conservative Californians probably view Idaho as a refuge — a place to escape.

They also tend to be older. Of the 320 people surveyed who had lived in Idaho their entire lives, only 16.6 percent were retired. Of the 164 people who had moved to Idaho from California, a whopping 42.1 percent were retired. Remember, people tend to grow more conservative with age.

Here’s something you won’t want to hear. BSU’s surveys also tell us that Idahoans are poorer and less educated than the out-of-staters moving here.

“The general story is that the movers to Idaho are a slightly higher educational attainment group and have slightly higher incomes than the people who have grown up here all their lives,” Lyons says. “Which I don’t think is surprising.

“But some of the numbers are actually fairly different. For example, if we look at our people who were born in Idaho and have always lived here — who are straight-up Idahoans — 30 percent of those people have a bachelor’s degree. On the other hand, if we look at the people who have moved to Idaho in the last 10 years, 49 percent of them have a bachelor’s degree. So we are looking at pretty different levels of educational attainment between the groups.”

Politics change

Here’s the big thing to remember from all of this, Lyons says. Boise State’s survey isn’t saying that Idaho politics won’t ever change. Because change can come from a variety of sources. What the survey is saying is that if Idaho does see political change, it’s probably not because of the people moving here from California — or from anywhere.

Demographic turnover could alter our state’s ideology. Younger, left-leaning citizens could become a larger part of the state’s population. Or Boise could grow more Democratic while the rest of Idaho becomes more Republican — and the average washes out at the state level.

But overall? When it comes to people moving to Idaho, the “liberal Californians” fantasy is exactly that — a fantasy.

Idahoans who want to fear that we’re being taken over by California liberals probably won’t stop freaking out.

But evidence truly suggests the opposite.

“Any of these things that people talk about — they sort of hypothesize this shift that’s happening to the left — I just don’t see it,” Lyons says.