Idaho lawmakers fail to agree on presidential primary. What it means for 2024 elections
Idaho lawmakers won’t convene a special legislative session to reinstate next year’s presidential primary election before the Republican National Committee’s Sunday deadline to finalize primary plans.
The inaction means voters from the two major parties likely will caucus next year to select nominees for president. That’s after a bill earlier this year from Idaho Secretary of State Phil McGrane inadvertently eliminated Idaho’s presidential primary election while attempting to move it from March to May, when all other primary elections are held.
Idaho lawmakers last week failed to compromise between two competing proposals that would have triggered a special session to reinstate the presidential primary. Most senators supported a proposal that would move the election to May, while most House members supported a March election.
“There’s not a lot of room for compromise between those two positions, and I think that’s where the difficulty came,” House Majority Leader Megan Blanksma, R-Hammett, told the Idaho Statesman by phone.
Ultimately, political parties decide how they’ll nominate presidential candidates. In recent years, the Idaho Republican and Democratic parties have opted for a state-run presidential primary in March, but without a legal mechanism for the state to run the elections, both parties have made plans to caucus.
The Idaho Democrats pushed for a primary election in either March or May. But the Idaho GOP insisted on a March election. The earlier election incentivizes candidates to spend more time and resources in Idaho, Republican Party Chairwoman Dorothy Moon argued.
In June, the party gave the Legislature an ultimatum: Reinstate the March primary by Oct. 1, or the Republicans will caucus. House members sided with the party, and most supported a proposal from Rep. Lance Clow, R-Twin Falls, that would have reinstated the March election.
“The party has made it clear,” House Speaker Mike Moyle, R-Star, said by phone. “There’s no reason to come back, do the special session, go to May, because they’re going to caucus anyway.”
But senators didn’t budge on their preference for a May primary. Senate President Pro Tem Chuck Winder, R-Boise, said combining the presidential election with all other primary elections would improve turnout, particularly for legislative races, which see 30% to 50% less participation when held separately from the presidential contest. It would also save the state about $2.7 million in costs associated with holding a separate election.
“We thought it would save some money, and combining the races would get a lot better turnout,” Winder said by phone Friday.
Lawmakers on both sides of the debate agreed that state-run elections were preferred over caucuses. The latter often have lower turnout because they require additional time and absentee and early voting is excluded.
“I think sometimes we get too dug in,” Clow said by phone. “The two bodies are definitely different. Leadership has to judge what their body won’t pass, and we didn’t make it. At least, we didn’t make it by Oct. 1.”
The state party submitted a caucus plan to the Republican National Committee last week, according to Cindy Siddoway, national committeewoman. If lawmakers found a compromise to reinstate the primary election before March, the Idaho GOP could ask the national committee for a waiver to change plans after the deadline.
“Typically, they grant those waivers if it’s something that’s totally out of the control of the party,” Siddoway said by phone. “I don’t know that they would grant a waiver” in this situation.
This story was originally published October 1, 2023 at 4:00 AM.
