Open Primaries Initiative could return Idaho to itself
The Idaho Republican Party is not a political party anymore. It’s a luncheon at which moderates are the main course.
The only hope in sight for returning moderation to the state is to get the Open Primaries Initiative on the 2024 ballot.
The initiative would establish an open, come-one, come-all primary election with all candidates on a single ticket. The four top vote-getters in any race would go on to the November general election
Evidence that Idaho needs to consider this kind of voting has piled up as cream-of-extreme Republicans have ridden hard on the bit to stay in control.
For example, the Latah County Republican Central Committee just “censured” Rep. Lori McCann for her votes in the Legislature—for the third time this year.
It chastised her for No votes on allowing parents to sue libraries over “harmful” materials, banning drag shows on public property and prohibiting requirements for COVID vaccines.
Other central committees have scolded Republican legislators who represent three other districts.
Central committees consist of obscure party insiders who recruit candidates and help conduct campaigns. They are becoming cabals that try to control lawmakers from backrooms.
At its Challis meeting this summer, the Idaho Republican Party issued “no confidence votes” to Idaho Gov. Brad Little and 14 other legislators for opposing the library lawsuits bill.
It was a move intended to punish them for not singing from the extremist hymnal. The words “censure” and “no confidence” can carry a lot of weight in a close election, especially when a candidate faces opposition in the Republican primary.
The extremists’ hold on that primary resulted in last year’s defeat of longtime Republican Attorney General Lawrence Wasden by far-right Raul Labrador who now occupies the office.
Labrador seems to want to be not only the state’s lawyer but also a self-appointed lawmaker and grand inquisitor.
A district court judge just disqualified him and another lawyer in his office from suing the State Board of Education after having an attorney-client meeting with the board’s executive director.
The Idaho Supreme Court rejected ballot titles Labrador had put forth for the Open Primaries initiative that “would likely prejudice the Initiative.” He also had publicly denigrated the measure.
Republicans handed power to extremists in 2012 when they closed the party’s primary to all but registered Republicans. They doubled down on the closure this summer when they decided to make party switchers wait up to two years before becoming eligible to vote in the primary.
They also put a stop to voting in its executive committee by the Idaho Federation of Republican Women, Idaho Young Republicans, Idaho College Republicans and its finance chair.
If Idaho is to tame extremism, citizens must break its hold by carrying or signing the petition to put the initiative in front of voters. It’s a chance for Idaho to return to its moderate self.
