Political refugees are changing Idaho, not always for the better | Opinion

Idaho is easy to love. It’s completely understandable why anyone would want to move here.

We also understand why some people would leave a state that has high taxes and high crime for a state like Idaho, which still has relatively low taxes and low crime rates.

But we wish all new residents adhered to the adage, “Don’t change Idaho; let Idaho change you.”

Unfortunately, we’ve seen a flood of political refugees from places like California who moved to Idaho and hijacked the Republican Party of Idaho, state politics and the state Legislature.

An Idaho Statesman series launched this week explores how Californians are changing the face of Idaho.

Over 17,000 Californians moved to Idaho in 2023, the most recent year tracked in U.S. Census data, according to the first story in the series.

And the vast majority are conservative.

Data from the Secretary of State’s Office showed that of the 39,558 Idaho voters who moved here from California from 2004 to 2023, 29,516 (75%) were Republicans, compared with only 3,940 California voters, less than 10%, who moved here and registered as Democrats.

And those who are moving here are a much deeper shade of red than what Idaho used to be.

What 20 years ago was a state dominated by a traditional Republican Party that simply believed in small government, low taxes and a compassionate conservatism has morphed into a state dominated by far-right radical ideology, confrontational politics and nanny-state policies that actually espouse big government.

Some of these political newcomers have attacked and denigrated public education. They’ve attacked and denigrated our public libraries and librarians and even sought to shut them down.

People who don’t believe in the science of vaccines have moved to Idaho, taking advantage of Idaho’s lax exemption laws. That’s led to outbreaks of diseases we thought had been eradicated.

What’s most distressing is that newcomers who have lived in Idaho for just a short period of time, perhaps just five or six years, have pushed out the political ideologies of reasonable Republicans and independents who have for generations defined the Idaho Way.

Someone like Ryan Spoon, who has lived in Idaho for just seven years, vows to make life intolerable in Idaho for anyone who is liberal, and he confidently and arrogantly tells Idahoans whose families have lived here for generations to leave the state if they don’t like it.

We can understand where this hubris comes from. These political refugees typically migrate from what they see as liberal tyranny. There, they are in the minority, voiceless, powerless and not listened to.

In Idaho, though, the tables are turned. They now find themselves in the majority party — the supermajority party — with incredible power.

This is their chance to remake the world how they see fit — no vaccines, no gay rights, no abortions, no diversity, equity and inclusion in public schools, no Pride flags flying from city flagpoles, no library books that they don’t like.

Idaho used to rely on traditional Republicans, the likes of Bart Davis, Bruce Newcomb, Maxine Bell, Brent Hill, Dean Cameron, Bob Geddes, Phil Batt, Dirk Kempthorne, James McClure and, more recently, Patti Ann Lodge, Rick Youngblood, Jeff Agenbroad and Ben Ysursa to stand guard against the radical right.

With their majority within the Idaho Republican Party shrinking, though, it’s harder and harder for Republicans like Gov. Brad Little and U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson to beat back the tide.

Little has acquiesced on so many bad bills, not the least of which is last year’s school voucher bill, turning over $50 million to private schools. Simpson now gives full-throated support to President Donald Trump’s Gestapo-like masked federal agents, who have killed two U.S. citizens in the past three weeks.

The tide is turning, and Idaho is changing.

Unfortunately, it’s not always for the better.

Statesman editorials are the opinion of the Idaho Statesman’s editorial board. Board members are opinion editor Scott McIntosh, opinion writer Bryan Clark, editor Chadd Cripe, assistant editor Jim Keyser and community members John Hess, Debbie McCormick and Julie Yamamoto.