Republicans face a test in the primary. How many voters will Ammon Bundy win over?

Ok, Ammon Bundy is unlikely to win the gubernatorial race in Idaho. Still, his “Keep Idaho IDAHO” campaign deserves attention because it reflects the leading, rightward edge of the Republican Party. The Republican Party has shown a growing appetite for antigovernmental extremism, culminating in the party’s muted response to Jan. 6 violence at the U.S. Capitol, and Bundy’s candidacy gives Republicans in Idaho a chance to weigh in on this trajectory.

Bundy’s “Keep Idaho IDAHO” plan is straight libertarianism conveyed in pious, civil religious language. He promises to eliminate property tax because it reflects the government’s desire to “deify itself” and trample one of our most basic, God-given rights. He will eliminate personal property tax because it is a form of theft. And he will eliminate personal income tax so that people can keep the money they earn. He will support only a modest sales tax. Don’t worry, he insists, this will not bankrupt the state. By eliminating social programs like the healthcare exchange established under the Affordable Care Act and the state welfare system, he will cut spending; and by seizing federal lands and developing federal resources like oil and gas, he will increase state revenue by billions.

After dispatching with most taxes, he promises, he will slash government regulation that limits individual freedom. He will end licensure of professionals, such as plumbers and doctors, favoring a market approach to weed out bad actors. He will end restrictions on medical treatments, ensuring that individuals can choose whatever treatments they want, regardless of whether they have been tested. Again, he says, the markets will decide which health care providers stay in business. He will end all government regulation that impacts school choice and parents’ choices in how to raise their children. And of course, Bundy pledges to block all gun restrictions because “every other freedom in the Constitution rests upon the people’s right to bear arms.”

Many of Bundy’s campaign promises are unrealistic, which is hardly unique in politics. What is important is that they position him at the leading edge of Republican antigovernmentalism, which is rooted in a civil religious belief that liberals have trampled on Americans’ God-given freedoms and undermined our nation’s Christian character. Indeed, Bundy believes that the U.S. Constitution was inspired by God and that it now “hangs by a thread.” Incremental change isn’t enough. Repristinating the nation and restoring its greatness requires another revolution, which he promises to lead against the state government from his position at its head. And he warns that if voters reject the peaceful revolution he offers, violent revolution is inevitable.

Bundy stands out in the race not so much for his positions but for his credentials. He is running on a clear record of matching rhetoric with action. He goes beyond the threatening rhetoric of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Georgia, who recently suggested that residents drive vaccination volunteers from their doors at gunpoint.

In 2014, he helped lead an armed standoff with the Bureau of Land Management to keep the agency from removing his father’s cattle from public lands. In 2016, he organized an armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge to protest the criminal conviction of two local ranchers. The occupation lost momentum after the FBI and Oregon State Police arrested Bundy and shot another occupation leader, LaVoy Finicum. Bundy was ultimately acquitted of all charges.

He goes beyond the rhetoric of President Trump, who told supporters to disrupt congressional certification of the 2020 election. He has been arrested multiple times for trespassing and disrupting the Idaho State Legislature. He goes beyond Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul’s admonition to resist government COVID-19 policies. In 2020, he founded People’s Rights, which organizes and trains communities for armed defense against government intrusion. Bundy is careful to tell people that violence is only “righteous” when used in self-defense, but the group’s website suggests that this could include self-defense against government regulation of your property or a vaccine mandate.

Idaho Republicans have a choice. They can elect Bundy and continue down the road of populist antigovernmentalism that continues to drive physical and potentially violent action against basic government functions, such as that of the Jan. 6 insurrection. Ammon Bundy, like his father Cliven Bundy, promises that when government violates his understanding of the Constitution or his understanding of his God-given rights, he will do “whatever it takes” to stop the government.

Or Idaho Republicans can step back from the precipice and elect someone in the primary who is serious about governing, who has demonstrated the patience to govern, and whose primary qualifications for office do not include armed conflicts with government. The question in the upcoming primary is this: What kind of governor do Republicans want? I will wait for the answer with some apprehension.

This story was originally published October 12, 2021 at 4:00 AM.