‘Change America’: What Idaho Republicans (and a Democrat) say Trump’s triumph means
Idaho officials congratulated former President Donald Trump after a decisive victory Wednesday and vowed to get to work on their vision for America.
Trump handily surpassed the 270 electoral college votes needed to defeat Vice President Kamala Harris and addressed his supporters in a speech after midnight Tuesday, where he said he would “put our country first” and bring about a “golden age,” the Associated Press reported.
The state’s unofficial results show he won more support this presidential election than ever in Idaho. Trump won Idaho by a large margin in 2016 and again in 2020, and his support in the Gem State appears to have only grown stronger since. Trump cinched 59% of Idaho’s overall vote in 2016, rising to 63% in 2020 and 67% this election.
“Idahoans have made it clear: They want to secure the border, lower taxes, rein in government spending and save America’s economy,” Gov. Brad Little wrote on the social network X. In a follow-up post Wednesday morning, Little added that he’s looking to working with Trump again to “deliver results” for Idaho and the rest of the country.
Other Republican leaders in Idaho praised Trump on the historic win. Attorney General Raul Labrador on social media wrote, “Now let’s drain the swamp!” followed by a hashtag of Trump’s campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again.”
Trump is the first president in over a century to reclaim the White House after losing it, according to The Washington Post. He’s also the first president to be impeached twice and the first former president convicted of felony crimes, the Post reported.
U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson, who won a 14th term representing Idaho’s 2nd Congressional District, congratulated Trump on the “hard-won victory.”
“He is a proven leader with an unwavering commitment to making America safer, more prosperous and stronger,” Simpson wrote on X. “I am confident he will continue to create opportunity and security for all Americans, and I look forward to working with him to advance policies that benefit Idaho and strengthen our nation.”
U.S. Rep. Russ Fulcher, who won his fourth term to represent Idaho’s 1st Congressional District, also offered his congratulations and cited a “stark difference” between Trump’s time in office and Harris’s.
“I think we’re in the biggest conflict we’ve had since the Civil War,” Fulcher said at a GOP watch party Tuesday night. ” … But today at the polls, what I’m hearing is Americans are answering the question, ‘Are we better off today than we were four years ago?’ And I think what we’re hearing across the country is ‘no.’ However, thanks to you, thanks to Republicans across this country, I think we’re about to get some help.”
U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo acknowledged that votes are still being tallied in some congressional races. Republicans took control of the Senate and are poised to keep their majority in the House of Representatives, though the results are expected to be close and it could take days or weeks to count enough votes to determine which party won, The New York Times reported.
“When we get them, we are going to change America quickly,” Crapo said at the watch party.
U.S. Sen. Jim Risch said in a post on X that the Trump-Vance Administration will bring conservative values back to the White House.
“Together with President Trump, Vice President Vance and my Senate colleagues, we will secure the border, cut red tape, tame inflation and end the woke agenda on everything from education to natural resources,” Risch wrote.
Other Idaho conservatives cheered Trump’s triumph too.
“Donald Trump will be president again, buying us a little more time to save our state and our country,” Eagle resident Brian Almon wrote on his Gem State Chronicle blog on Substack. “Congratulations, America.”
Boise Mayor Lauren McLean, a Democrat, offered a statement Wednesday regarding the election, noting that “many people have been on edge about the outcome.”
“This moment in time presents an opportunity for us to come together again, with renewed purpose and optimism for our city and, yes, for our country,” McLean said in a news release and on X. “We have a shared vision of creating a city for everyone. Realizing that vision takes all of us working together, here at home and alongside our neighbors, on behalf of the community we love so dearly.”
Reporter Ian Max Stevenson contributed.
