The Home Stretch
Catching up with the challengers to the governor's throne
With the filing deadline passed last week, the primary campaign has shifted into high gear for the final stretch. Candidates have just two months left to bring their message to the Republican voters of Idaho. The race for governor has been a marathon. I wrote about the three most prominent challengers to incumbent Governor Brad Little in January, so let us see what they have been up to since then.
Ed Humphreys has continued his grueling schedule, traveling to cities and towns across Idaho multiple times a week. He is perhaps the most online of the major candidates, streaming his speeches and town halls as well as broadcasting live on Facebook while driving down I-84. He has maintained his focus on breaking the corrupt moneyed establishment in Boise as well as attacking “politics as usual.”
I endorsed Mr. Humphreys in this newsletter last month because I believe he has the best plan to attack the political establishment in Boise on Day 1. However, I disagreed with the way he attacked Lt. Governor McGeachin for speaking at AFPAC, the America First Political Action Conference. I understand that the nature of campaigning means that you attack your opponents when you see weakness, but I cannot support conservatives using left-wing cancel tactics to attack fellow conservatives.
Ideally, Mr. Humphreys wins outright, but that was always a tall order. He started this race with zero name recognition outside of his hometown of Eagle, and despite a vigorous campaign, he remains unknown to a large portion of Republican voters. Victory is a long shot. If polls show that Lt. Governor McGeachin is the best chance to oust Governor Little, then I hope Humphreys will have the courage to do the right thing and support her going into the May primary. Nobody likes a spoiler, and if people come away with the perception that Humphreys split enough votes from McGeachin to allow Little to win, then his reputation with Idaho conservatives might be permanently damaged.
On the other hand, if Mrs. McGeachin does pull off a win, then I hope she would have the wisdom to appoint Humphreys to a position within the government with authority to continue his crusade against the financial networks that bind the corrupt political establishment. I would like to see a long-lasting movement grow out of the Humphreys campaign against corruption and politics as usual in Idaho.
Speaking of Lt. Governor McGeachin, she appears to have weathered the controversy over her appearance at AFPAC. I had the opportunity to see her at the Ada County Ronald Reagan club lunch today, where she told her story and shared her drive to protect individual rights. I have noted before that McGeachin is not the best speaker, and not the most polished on camera, but today she came across as very passionate about the issues that are facing our people.
Last year, Lt. Governor McGeachin made national news for using her authority to ban mask mandates for children while Governor Little was out of state. He repealed the order the moment he returned, of course, causing many critics of McGeachin to accuse her of meaningless political grandstanding. She responded to those accusations today, saying, "I do not work for the governor, I work for you, the people of Idaho. When your constitutional rights are being violated, and I have sworn an oath to the constitution, you can count on me to speak up."
McGeachin criticized the governor for maintaining the emergency declaration first issued two years ago, which suspends certain laws and gives the executive branch extra power as well as federal money. She attacked Marxism in public schools and universities, for which the legislature continues to rubber-stamp budgets. She was emotional when she described how agents of the State of Idaho took a 10-month-old baby from his parents and threatened to place him with strangers over a missed doctor’s appointment.
Ammon Bundy has also championed the cause of this baby and his family, going so far as to get himself arrested when he showed up at the hospital when the child was taken from his parents. The child’s grandfather, Diego Rodriguez, is a political activist and supporter of Bundy’s campaign, and some have accused state government of retaliation against a candidate who is very outspoken in his criticism of that government. Whatever one thinks of Bundy’s policies, you must admit he is not afraid of controversy.
In February Mr. Bundy withdrew from the Republican primary and filed to run as an independent instead. The more I thought about this move, I realized that it was the smart play. Rather than compete in the crowded Republican field, where he had little chance of victory and might end up splitting enough of the vote to allow Governor Little to survive, he now has eight months to bring his message to the people. Not only that, but if Little does survive the primary, Bundy becomes the logical protest vote for disaffected Republicans. The Democratic candidate is going to be meaningless in that scenario; the race would be between Little and Bundy. In such a scenario, Bundy might - just might - have an outside chance.
With two months to go until the primary election day, the race still looks unpredictable. The smart money would probably be on Governor Little to survive the challenge, as incumbency provides a huge bonus in free press coverage and name recognition. However, the tireless campaigning of Ed Humphreys, the endorsements of Janice McGeachin by President Trump and Michelle Malkin, and the outside-the-box ideas of Ammon Bundy are all resonating with Idaho’s voters. Anything can still happen.
I hope to see some good debates and solid polls in the near future. Whether it is Mr. Humphreys or Mrs. McGeachin who has the best chance of unseated Governor Little, I hope Idaho Republicans will unite behind one conservative champion and begin the process of changing the culture of corruption in Boise.
I will have more to say about this race, and many others in our state, between now and May 17th. Until then, share and subscribe for more news and analysis from the Treasure Valley!