Idaho senator backed by conservative PACs after ‘go back to where you came from’ comment
On an October evening in Kendrick, a small town southeast of Moscow, legislative candidates for District 6 debated before voters ahead of the November general election.
An hour into the discussion, candidates were asked about whether discrimination exists in Idaho. Trish Carter-Goodheart, a Democratic House candidate who is a member of the Nez Perce Tribe, said she thought it does. Sen. Dan Foreman, R-Viola, stood up and yelled at her about “liberal bulls—!” according to attendees previously interviewed by the Idaho Statesman.
“Why don’t you go back to where you came from?” the attendees recounted he said, before he stormed out of the town hall.
Carter-Goodheart released a statement condemning Foreman’s comments, which led to news coverage and local blowback. On Facebook, Foreman denied the characterization of the incident, calling it a lie and saying he had been “race-baited.”
The Idaho Republican Party also backed up Foreman and called the allegations “scurrilous.” Foreman did not respond to a request for comment.
District 6, which borders Washington and includes the left-leaning college town of Moscow, is one of Idaho’s rare legislative districts that can elicit tight races between Democrats and Republicans.
Political fundraising generally picks up in October, and after Foreman’s comments, which could have narrowed a close race over the remaining weeks, two right-leaning activist groups invested $46,000 into his race to ensure he won his contest. It was the largest amount the groups spent on any candidate, including in the primary.
Foreman’s campaign, one of the few competitive races in the general election, was a central focus for both Idaho Freedom PAC, a prominent conservative group affiliated with the Idaho Freedom Foundation, and Citizens Alliance of Idaho PAC, which asks lawmakers to sign a pledge to limit federal spending, support gun rights and back other conservative priorities.
Neither group responded to a request for comment.
The senator’s race also attracted other big-name political spenders, like the Idaho Prosperity Fund, the campaign-spending arm of the Idaho Association of Commerce and Industry, and Idaho Liberty PAC, which also gets most of its donations through business groups. The two PACs together spent $110,000 against Foreman or in favor of his opponent, while Democrat-aligned Accountable Idaho spent over $41,000 against him.
Foreman’s race supported by Idaho Freedom PAC
Idaho Freedom PAC focused almost exclusively on the tight race in North Idaho between sitting Sen. Dan Foreman, R-Moscow, and his Democratic challenger, Julia Parker. All of the more than $20,000 spent supporting Foreman came after his controversial comments at the town hall.
The group spent close to $10,500 supporting Foreman in independent advertising for the District 6 race, as well as $9,668 opposing his Democratic challenger through advertising, according to data from the Idaho Secretary of State’s Office.
The only other general election candidate the group spent money on was Kala Tate, who ran as an independent in a historically purple district in the Wood River Valley. The group shelled out around $2,260 for her. In that Senate race, Sen. Ron Taylor, D-Hailey, beat his Republican challenger, former Rep. Laurie Lickley, who received an F rating on IFF’s “Freedom Index,” by 367 votes. Tate secured just over 10% — more than 2,300 — of the votes.
More than a third of the $67,000 Citizens Alliance of Idaho spent this year was on Foreman’s race. The group spent over $23,000 on “management services” on his behalf, according to campaign filings.
Though Parker outraised Foreman by more than five-to-one, on Election Day, Foreman beat Parker by fewer than 2,000 votes, by far the closest margin among the District 6 House and Senate races. His win helped the far-right hold ground. It picked up new seats as well.
“It’s really hard to know (or even speculate) on the effects of spending on election outcomes,” Jeffrey Lyons, a political science professor at Boise State University, told the Statesman by email. “It probably mattered some, but whether that was worth 1% or 10% of the vote is tough to know.”
Parker told the Statesman she thought hyperbolic negative advertising affected the race.
“They just have no scruples about what to put into,” she said.
She noted that Foreman’s comments to Carter-Goodheart led to a “huge” bump in attention and money funneled toward her campaign from across the country in the final weeks of the race, and conservative groups may have poured in more dollars in support of him because they “probably saw he was in trouble.”
But she added that if she ever runs again, she may try to limit what outside groups she accepts money from.
“It’s kind of gross,” she said. “I raised and spent a lot of money, and I just don’t think these races should be that expensive.”
Carter-Goodheart, who ran against Rep. Lori McCann, R-Lewiston, told the Statesman by text that outside spending concerns her because it raises questions about influence.
“It’s troubling because it shifts the focus away from voters and toward special interests,” she said. “That’s not how democracy is supposed to work.”
Carter-Goodheart raised more than $57,000 from in-state and out-of-state donors.
Groups focus on GOP primary races
The May GOP primary typically features more competitive races in which far-right candidates face more mainstream Republicans across the state, and factions compete to have their candidates elected to the Legislature.
But this year, Idaho Freedom PAC spent less in the primary than in the general election. The primary spending broadly backed seven candidates and opposed two, and fought the West Ada School District’s supplemental levy for a total of more than $17,000.
The group backed six candidates running to the right of their Republican rivals, spending the most on Foreman ($4,800) and Sen. Glenneda Zuiderveld, R-Twin Falls ($6,000).
Overall, the PAC had a strong winning streak in May. Five of the six candidates it supported won, and the two candidates it opposed lost. Only one that the group supported, Rep. Jacyn Gallagher, R-Weiser, lost her reelection bid. West Ada’s supplemental levy passed handily, and will provide $13.8 million for two years of salary aid for 150 teachers and the services of 19 student resource officers.
Citizens Alliance of Idaho offers “intense support” to lawmakers who sign its pledge, while promising to target those who “betray or ignore” it. In the previous term, 23 House members and 11 senators signed the pledge, according to its website.
The group gets most of its money from a Virginia-based group called Citizens Alliance of America. It’s run by Cliff Maloney, an organizer for President-elect Donald Trump whose bio on X, the social media website, reads: “I crush commies to make liberty win.”
Citizens Alliance had a lower success rate among candidates they backed. In the primary, the group supported six more conservative Republicans and opposed four others. Two of the six candidates the group supported won their races, while two of the four candidates it opposed lost.
Eight of the nine candidates the group supported in the general election won. The most it spent all year, other than Foreman, was $23,280 on Tanya Burgoyne, who beat incumbent Democratic Rep. Nate Roberts in Pocatello.
PACs spend on Facebook, Google ads
One main avenue for political spending is through social media ads.
Throughout the primary and general elections, Idaho Freedom Action — which is associated with the Idaho Freedom Foundation — spent close to $38,000 on Facebook advertising, much of which came during the first four months of 2024, before reporting requirements for primary spending kicked in. One $1,000 ad was for Foreman, while others were for lawmakers that included Sen. Brian Lenney, R-Nampa, or against candidates that included Rep. Julie Yamamoto, R-Caldwell, and Rep. Wendy Horman, R-Idaho Falls. The group ran similar ads on Google.
Citizens Alliance of Idaho also spent thousands of dollars on Facebook advertising this year, reaching millions of users with videos that promoted its pledge or favored or opposed candidates. Multiple ads from the group attacked Yamamoto, a Republican lawmaker who signed the pledge but voted against the group’s preferences and lost her May primary.
“Julie Yamamoto’s defeat is not an isolated incident but a signal to all lawmakers in Boise,” the group said in one ad that reached between 100,000 and 500,000 Facebook users. “We will continue to hold you accountable.”
In a phone interview, Yamamoto said she considers herself a strong conservative but also believes the state has to pay its bills, which sometimes leads her to vote contrary to outside groups’ recommendations. That prompted the negative advertising, she said.
Yamamoto said she’s been discouraged by low participation in primary elections and the way political groups often portray lawmakers’ votes on nuanced topics. But the targeted advertising works, she told the Statesman, particularly among those most likely to cast their ballots.
“It rings true with the people who are most activated to vote right now,” she said. “It’s really effective.”
This story was originally published December 22, 2024 at 4:00 AM.
CORRECTION: This story was updated Dec. 23, 2024, to correct which entity filed independent expenditures in Dan Foreman’s race. Idaho Freedom PAC is the right group.
