Idaho’s GOP votes on a proposal that candidates must be endorsed by party officials
The Idaho Republican Party struck down a proposed rule on Friday that would have required all candidates in state or local races to get endorsed by Republican committees before they’re placed on the primary ballot.
The proposal was voted down with no support from the Rules Committee of the Idaho Republican State Central Committee on the first day of the party’s two-day winter meeting.
“The debate was very passionate, and it went down unanimously,” said Tom Luna, chairman of the Idaho Republican Party, in an interview with the Idaho Statesman.
Luna added that committee members felt the rule change would have disenfranchised “hundreds of thousands of Republicans and their ability to vote and choose who would be their nominees going into the general election.”
The proposal, which was adopted by the Bonneville County Central Committee in November, would have required that candidates for all state partisan races — including governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state, U.S. House and Senate seats, county commissioners, sheriffs, and other races — be approved by a party committee before appearing in a primary.
Why Bonneville County GOP proposed the rule
Those who wanted to run for statewide office would have needed the State Central Committee’s endorsement before appearing on the ballot, while candidates for the Idaho Legislature would have needed the endorsement of the Republican Legislative District Committee within their district, according to a copy of the proposal obtained by the Statesman. Candidates for county offices would have needed the endorsement of their County Central Committee.
Currently, candidates must gather a certain number of signatures or pay a filing fee to appear on the Republican ballot, Luna said.
Rule changes adopted by county committees are sent to the state party’s central committee for approval.
“I have not had one person contact me that was in support of it,” said Luna in an interview before the vote took place.
The resolution, adopted by the Bonneville County Republicans, said some of the reasons for the proposal included that “multiple media outlets in Idaho have recently published articles actively encouraging Democrats and Independents to fraudulently register as Republicans in order to sabotage Republican voters’ right to choose their own nominees.”
Republican primaries in Idaho are closed, meaning that only registered members of the party can vote for candidates. For many of Idaho’s elected positions — particularly the statewide seats — the winner of the Republican primary usually prevails in the general election.
In recent months, some state political commentators have encouraged non-Republican voters to register as Republicans to combat a perceived vein of extremist views in the party. Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin, a candidate for governor, has repeatedly sought to undermine Gov. Brad Little’s agenda, even going so far as to issue executive orders while temporarily serving as governor when Little is out of the state.
Ammon Bundy, a far-right activist who has been arrested multiple times in the past couple of years for protests at the Idaho Capitol, is also running for governor. Luna has said Bundy is not welcome in the party, saying the GOP does not support his “antics or his chaotic political theater.”
“I’m not afraid of a very diverse, big tent,” Luna said on Friday. “(Republicans) agree on 80% of policies and issues, but that 20% that we don’t agree on? That’s why we have primaries … diversity, difference of opinions, disagreements. I think it makes the party stronger. I think it makes us defend what we say we believe in and consider other points of view.”
Proposal would take away ‘right to choose,’ GOP leader says
Terrel Tovey, a member of the state party’s rules committee and a Bannock County commissioner, told the Statesman that Democratic or Independent voters registering as Republicans was an issue worth addressing. But, Tovey added, the proposal was “politically motivated” and would have taken the democratic process out of the hands of the voters and put it in the hands of a select few committee members.
“We’re talking about people’s right to choose,” he said. “And the freedom of choice and the freedom to affiliate is something we believe in quite dearly.”
At a press conference Friday morning, Gov. Brad Little condemned the proposal as one that would have granted a disproportionate amount of power to a small group in rural parts of the state.
“Literally, if that passed, in a small county maybe three central committee people can show up and decide who the only candidate is on the Republican ballot for prosecutor, sheriff, fill in the blank,” Little said. “I’m not a big fan, as you can tell.”
During the proposed selection process, candidates for individual races would have been winnowed by a series of votes by party committee members until two candidates remained. In the final vote, if one candidate had received at least 60% of the committee’s votes, only their name would have appeared on the Republican ballot. If neither candidate received 60%, both would appear on the ballot.
The maximum of two Republican candidates per race would have curtailed many races, which often have more than two candidates. Currently, there are seven Republican candidates for governor.
This year’s primary election will be held on May 17. The general election will be held Nov. 8.
State politics reporter Ryan Suppe contributed to this report.
This story was originally published January 7, 2022 at 4:22 PM.
