WEDNESDAY ROUNDUP: The Day After Edition

Mixed results from yesterday's biggest elections

What a day. When you’re not plugged into politics, as most people are not, Election Day comes and goes. For people who have dedicated their lives to the public square, it’s the culmination of months of hard work, stressful days, and sleepless nights. The winners can take a deep breath and look forward to the future, while the losers look back at what might have been. Winning is never all it’s cracked up to be, and losing is not the end, but in that moment you’re either on top of the world, or the very bottom.

I spent Election Day in Precinct 1518 in Boise where 290 voters cast their ballots. I saw all kinds — Republicans, Democrats, unaffiliated, old, young, men, women, people in suits, people in sweatpants, happy people, grumpy people. When I stepped into the polling place I took off my partisan hat and did my best to run a clean and objective election. I did my best to help everyone vote, no matter who they were. I am thankful that the day passed without incident. Every voter’s ballot was counted, and we wrapped it up with no issues. I am gratified with what Ada County has done with election integrity, and am confident that the results reflect the true will of the voters.

It’s the will of the voters that is our concern.

After dropping off the scanners and ballots from 1518 I came home and joined the Freedom Bros podcast to discuss the results as they came in. The roundtable discussion included people from throughout Idaho: Kirsten Lucas, Dominic Brandon, and Sen. Brian Lenney from Canyon County, Rena Huff from Mountain Home, Lucky Barnard from North Idaho, and Maria Nate from eastern Idaho. Check it out:

I’ll have some deep dives into the election results over the next few weeks, but here are some highlights:

Jason Pierce earned the most votes in the race for Eagle mayor, but because he fell short of a majority he will face second place finisher Brad Pike in a runoff on December 5. Clearly the negative campaigning by Pike, Stan Ridgeway, and their friends did some damage, but now conservatives in Eagle have four weeks to rebuild support for the mayor. Local Democrats are already throwing their support behind Pike, which tells you all you need to know. I’ll have much more on this race soon.

Interestingly enough, this is now the third consecutive election that Stan Ridgeway has lost, after his defeat in the mayoral race in 2019 and losing to Ada County Commissioner Rod Beck last year. I expect him to continue his efforts to pull the strings in Eagle, however.

Thankfully, the city council remains in good hands. Mary May and Craig Kvamme took the top two spots, which means they will join Helen Russell and Melissa Gindlesperger on perhaps the most conservative city council in the Treasure Valley. It was too close for comfort, however. Christopher Hadden would have been an absolute disaster on the council, and Christina Patterson, as nice of a person as she seems to be, was supported by the Democratic Party.

There was unfortunately no such good news in Boise. Despite some optimism by conservatives, Lauren McLean defeated Mike Masterson to win a second term as mayor. Masterson got closer than former Mayor Dave Bieter’s twenty-one point shellacking in 2019, but it still shows how blue Boise has truly become. One thing that jumped out at me last night is the geographical distribution of McLean versus Masterson voters in Boise:

It looks like two entirely separate cities, doesn’t it? One more thing to analyze over the next couple of weeks.

Don’t let anyone tell you that your vote doesn’t matter. Conservative Josh Johnston lost to leftist Kathy Corless by a mere fifteen votes. They were tied at one point with all precincts reporting, before the last few votes were tallied. This is a huge missed opportunity for Boise.

Mike Hon cracked 30% in Meridian, but was still crushed by Robert Simison and his unlimited war chest. Liz Strader defeated Brad Hoaglun in a race between two incumbent moderates, and Todd Ebeling was unable to unseat Anne Little Roberts. Doug Taylor won a race between two conservatives, and he should be a solid voice in Meridian going forward.

Mayor Trevor Chadwick of Star crushed his opponent. I did not look too closely at this race, but good for him.

Brian Simpson, technically the incumbent fire commissioner after being appointed to a vacant seat just a few months ago, defeated Nate Murphy and Clyde Dornier. I hope Murphy continues to be involved in local politics because he’s a very solid conservative, but I suspect that Simpson had a lot of help from local firefighters. This race needs a deep dive.

The West Ada races played out about as expected. After I declined to recommend anyone in zone 2, I was told by several people that Lucas Baclayon was the best choice, so I’m glad to see him victorious. I think Dave Binetti will continue doing a fine job in zone 4, and Miguel DeLuna should be proud to have convinced more than four thousand voters to support him. In zone 5, Rene Ozuna seemed to have establishment backing, which as we have seen is hard to overcome in Meridian.

The Ada County jail bond was defeated despite overwhelming support, falling just a few hundred votes short of the two thirds supermajority necessary for such tax increases. There was enough skepticism about the Ada County Sheriff’s Office’s plans to raise $49 million over ten years to keep it from victory. I voted in favor, but I definitely understand and appreciate the arguments against. Hopefully the ACSO comes up with a plan that works for everyone.

It was a rough night in the rest of Idaho, with races in Coeur d’Alene and Caldwell not going the conservative way. However, Jackie Hutchinson was elected mayor of Middleton, which I’m told is a very good thing.

Results from around the nation were also decidedly mixed. Voters in Ohio approved a constitutional amendment protecting abortion, which is something we’re going to have to figure out before the same thing happens here. Kentucky, one of the reddest states in the nation, reelected its Democrat governor, while Gov. Glenn Youngkin in Virginia appears to have lost the General Assembly and failed to capture the Senate.

I will do my best to conduct a brutally honest examination of what went right for conservatives last night and what went wrong so as to prepare for the races to come. Next year will see all 105 Idaho legislators up for reelection, as well as two Ada County commissioners, so we have our work cut out for us. That means facing uncomfortable truths such as the fact that Boise is a blue city, and abortion is popular with a lot more Americans than we’d like to believe. But facing the truth is how we win, and we must win if we are to have the influence to create the society we want for our children and their children.

I’ll have much more for you soon. In the meantime, share and subscribe!