Idaho Gov. Little faces challenges from far right. Here’s the Statesman’s endorsement

The differences between Idaho Gov. Brad Little and his challengers in the upcoming Republican primary are stark, and they all come primarily from the right, some from the very far-right fringes of the Idaho Republican Party.

Much of the opposition stems from Little’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, accusing the incumbent governor of “tyranny” and violating the constitution.

While some of the issues merit debate, most of the opposition simply veers into conspiracies and hyperbole.

Gov. Little did not handle everything perfectly, but he successfully threaded the needle of instituting public health safety measures without going overboard, keeping the economy going and ensuring a healthy state budget.

While this editorial board repeatedly called on Little to institute a statewide mask mandate, it’s clear from his opponents that they would have considered that cause for armed rebellion.

Little earns the Idaho Statesman’s endorsement in the Republican primary, in recognition that he’s done a far better job than any of the other candidates would do.

The Idaho Statesman editorial board interviewed Little and two challengers, Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin and Ed Humphreys, to determine this endorsement. Others running in the Republican primary for governor are Steven Bradshaw, Ben Cannady, Ashley Jackson, Lisa Marie and Cody Usabel.

Little has earned the right to brag about Idaho’s performance under his watch these past four years in his first term as governor.

While this board would like to see him increase funding for public education at a faster clip, he did deliver a historic $300 million increase in public education funding this year, in addition to a record $600 million in tax relief while still increasing needed funding for transportation, broadband, state police, paying down debt and increasing rainy day funds.

Employment in Idaho is among the strongest in the nation. Wages are going up, state regulations are down, and the state budget is healthy — just about everything you could ask for in a Republican governor.

Confidence, though, can lead to hubris, allowing the governor to give short shrift to property tax relief and the need to get out of the cellar in public education funding.

We are also disappointed that Little blew off a debate with his competitors, instead saying his record is “non-debatable.”

We would have preferred to hear him defend himself in a debate format against his challengers’ accusations that his emergency declarations, his stay-home orders, his changing of elections laws in the 2020 primary and his method of spending of federal relief funds violated the U.S. and Idaho constitutions.

His answers to those questions didn’t fully satisfy this board. But we find his actions don’t warrant his opponents’ pearl-clutching hyperbole and apocalyptic predictions of Politburo central planning.

In an apparent effort to grab every vote she can, McGeachin has thrown in with the farthest reaches of the right wing, courting the likes of MAGA shock jock huckster Stew Peters, who angrily called Little a “tyrant” and “communist in disguise” during an interview with McGeachin.

Peters said Anthony Fauci should be “hanging from the end of a noose somewhere,” which drew applause and chants of “hang him up” from the crowd at the America First Political Action Conference. That’s the same conference where white nationalist organizer Nick Fuentes opened the conference by leading a cheer for Russia, days after Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine. And it’s the same conference where McGeachin delivered a video speech, in which she thanked attendees and said they’re “literally in the fight for our lives.”

When asked about her association, McGeachin would only say, “I was asked by Michelle Malkin to present a video to this conference of young conservatives to support America First policy. So that’s my statement, and I’m not going to say anything more about it.”

That’s not enough of an explanation for us and causes us great concern if she were to continue associating with these folks as Idaho’s governor.

McGeachin’s commitment to open government is also suspect, as she spent months fighting with reporters to keep public records secret, a fight she lost in court after ignoring advice of the attorney general’s office. The judge ordered her to pay a $750 fine and about $29,000 in plaintiffs’ attorney fees, which emptied her office’s budget.

McGeachin also told the editorial board that she believes Donald Trump won the 2020 presidential election.

Humphreys also said he doesn’t believe President Biden rightly won the election. Humphreys has bought into the whole kit and caboodle of conspiracy theories, about the elections, efforts to turn the United States into a communist nation, critical race theory, and “fat cat executives” in health care who “cashed in” by taking advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Through innuendo and suggestion, Humphreys questioned whether hospitals were really overwhelmed by COVID-19 cases, was skeptical of whether there really were a high number of deaths due to COVID-19, and said ivermectin could have reduced the effects of COVID-19. He called the COVID-19 vaccine an “experimental medical treatment.”

He called public education a “corrupted model” and favors giving tax money to students to spend on private schools.

He wants to abolish the state income tax, and after “four to six years,” state revenues would make up for the loss in tax revenue. He said sales tax would offset the loss in income tax, which accounts for about $2.5 billion. Sales tax revenue, currently at $2 billion, would have to more than double just to equal the loss in income tax.

In this Republican primary for governor, the incumbent is clearly the most competent, experienced and successful candidate for the job.

This story was originally published May 8, 2022 at 4:00 AM.