Far right takes election night walloping in Idaho GOP primary | Opinion
No two ways about it. Tuesday was a bad night for the far right in Idaho.
The losses went from the top of the ticket to the bottom. Mark Fitzpatrick showed himself to be not just an unserious candidate but a real joke, turning in the worst showing by a primary challenger to a sitting governor since Rex Rammell, who in 2010 made an attempt to challenge Gov. Butch Otter in the off-time between poaching and jury tampering charges.
Next week, it’s a good bet Fitzpatrick will be offering free beer and ammo to anyone who can prove Satan rigged the election for Gov. Brad Little or something in that vein.
The far right did manage a few victories in North Idaho, including with Scott Herndon’s ouster of Sen. Jim Woodward and Sen. Dan Foreman fending off a challenge by Lori McCann.
But those victories were swamped by losses of incumbent far-right seats, particularly in the Magic Valley, along with the total failure of an attempt to win back a number of seats in Eastern Idaho.
It was a particularly bad night for the so-called “Gang of 8,” a group of lawmakers who made it their primary business to stay at the very top of the Idaho Freedom Index.
Former Idaho Department of Correction Director Brent Reinke defeated incumbent Sen. Glenneda Zuiderveld in District 24. Casey Swensen handily defeated Sen. Josh Kohl and Cherie Vollmer defeated Rep. David Leavitt in District 25.
Defeats for Gang of 8 members also came outside the Magic Valley. Debbie Geyer defeated Lucas Cayler in Canyon County’s District 11 and Brian Beckley trounced Rep. Faye Thompson in District 8.
That leaves only Sen. Christy Zito, Rep. Kent Marmon and Rep. Clint Hostetler — the “Clique of Three.”
It easily could have been “Just the Two of Us.” It’s entirely possible that Zito would have been shown the door as well, replaced by former House Majority Leader Megan Blanksma, if former Rep. Terry Gestrin hadn’t played the spoiler. Zito won, but with only 43% support.
In Eastern Idaho, a host of former far-right lawmakers attempted comebacks and fell flat. Chad Christensen, Julianne Young and Karey Hanks all previously served in the Idaho House and regularly topped the Idaho Freedom Index. Voters had an appetite for none of them, opting to retain moderate incumbents Rep. Mike Veile, Rep. Ben Fuhriman and Rep. Rod Furniss instead.
In District 28, Senate State Affairs Chairman Jim Guthrie, who has become the most visible moderate in the Legislature and had the biggest target on his back this year, comfortably defeated far-right challenger David Worley, despite Rep. Jordan Redman spilling a big chunk of his family fortune into the race to attack Guthrie, and despite Worley’s endorsement from the sitting Idaho attorney general.
Jennifer Miles defeated far-right Rep. Tanya Burgoyne in District 29.
This was the almost unbroken pattern in Eastern Idaho. Moderate Sen. Julie VanOrden easily defeated a challenge from Ethan Neff, Rep. Stephanie Mickelsen beat challenger Kelly Golden, Rep. Marco Erikson defeated Jilene Burger and Rep. Britt Raybould beat Larry Golden.
Rep. Barbara Ehardt did manage to hold out, if narrowly, against more moderate challenger Connor Cook.
It was a generally good night for moderate Republicans even when they weren’t facing the extreme edge of the GOP. In District 24, apparent moderate Chance Requa came in first in a three-way contest, where longtime Rep. Steve Miller placed last.
Add all these up, and you can maybe expect the Idaho Legislature to be a bit more measured than it has been in the past two years. It’s still Idaho, still one of the most conservative states in the nation, but there’s good reason to hope for a bit more policymaking and a bit less buffoonery in the next two years.
Bryan Clark is an opinion writer for the Idaho Statesman.
This story was originally published May 20, 2026 at 9:31 AM.