Ammon Bundy out as a Republican, but is it enough to help Janice McGeachin oust Little?
Now that Ammon Bundy has declared he’s running for governor as an independent and not as a Republican, Idaho is closer than ever to a one-on-one showdown in a closed Republican primary between incumbent Gov. Brad Little and Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin.
Bundy, McGeachin and a host of other Republican candidates have lined up to the far right of Little.
The prevailing wisdom has been that the slate of right-wing candidates would split the votes of those constituents, paving the way for an easy primary victory for the governor.
With Bundy out of the Republican primary, most of his votes likely will go to McGeachin. Certainly, voters who support Bundy, the candidate who has called the governor a tyrant, won’t be swinging their votes to the incumbent.
Some of Bundy’s supporters might pick one of the other Republican candidates still in the race, such as Ed Humphreys or Steve Bradshaw, but at this point, McGeachin is clearly the most serious challenger to Little, and Bundy’s withdrawal as a Republican candidate helps her cause.
“Today’s announcement by Ammon Bundy that he is withdrawing from the Republican Gubernatorial Primary makes it all the more clear that there is only one viable conservative candidate in this race,” McGeachin wrote in a news release. “I am, as I have been throughout my campaign, entirely focused on defeating Brad Little and restoring the principles of State Sovereignty, Individual Liberty, and Traditional Conservative Values in Idaho.” (Capitalizations McGeachin’s.)
The Idaho Republican Party establishment certainly isn’t shedding any tears over the loss of Bundy as a candidate.
Remember, back in June, after Bundy announced his candidacy, Idaho Republican Party Chairman Tom Luna issued a statement of no support.
“First, Mr. Bundy is currently not registered to vote in Idaho, and he is not even registered as a Republican,” Luna wrote. “Furthermore, we do not support his antics or his chaotic political theater. That is not the Idaho Republican Party, and we will not turn a blind eye to his behaviors. … Ammon Bundy wishes to divide our party, openly supports defunding the police, and has known alliances with the radical factions of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement. … Ammon Bundy is not suited to call himself an Idaho Republican let alone run for governor of our great state.”
Bundy did eventually register as a Republican and in his statement Thursday, Bundy said he still supports the Republican Party platform.
“The Republican Party platform is the platform I stand behind,” Bundy wrote, but he didn’t leave it there.
“But the Republican establishment in Idaho is full of filth and corruption and they refuse to put forth the party platform,” he wrote.
He then provided a laundry list of misbehavior among Republican officials, reaching into the wayback machine for the DUIs of U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo and former Gov. Butch Otter, and the infamous Minneapolis airport bathroom gay sex scandal of 2007 with then-U.S. Sen. Larry Craig.
“Good riddance,” Luna must be thinking today.
Bundy may have seen the writing on the campaign fundraising wall. Bundy raised a respectable $325,000 but has spent most of it, with only about $11,000 in cash on hand, not a lot to mount a serious challenge.
Little’s support — and donations — have included the Republican establishment and a wide range of influential donors, from developers and political action committees to health care companies and powerful agriculture organizations.
Little has raised nearly $1.5 million for his campaign, while McGeachin has raised a little more than a half-million dollars for hers.
A further narrowing of the Republican field would certainly help McGeachin.
Whether it’s enough to defeat Little, though, remains questionable.
This story was originally published February 17, 2022 at 12:58 PM.
