This past Saturday another powerful Idaho establishment Republican was ousted from his position and replaced with a more liberty minded person.
When Ammon Bundy announced that he was running for governor last year the Idaho Good Old Boys about lost their minds. Tom Luna, the Republican Chairman, called an emergency meeting and published a full-page letter denouncing Bundy as a Republican candidate. The Republican Party establishment openly vowed to oppose Ammon Bundy’s campaign and ensured that he would receive no party support. However, since they made this compact the Idaho Good Old Boys Club has been losing power.
Let’s just make a short list of some the most prominent establishment good old boys in Idaho that were not re-elected this past year. Attorney General Lawrence Wasden (after 20 years in office), Senator Fred Martin, Senator Jim Rice, Senator Steven Thayne, Senator James Patrick, Representative Greg Chaney and now Tom Luna, the Republican Party Chairman, without mentioning others.
It is hard to pin-point the exact reason one thing or another takes place in politics, and this shift in Idaho power is no different. Whether it’s backlash from the COVID lockdowns, or the way the Bundy campaign has subversively gone after the establishment boys, or Idahoans relating the Idaho Good Old Boys Club to the Biden administration, we may never know. Most likely a combination of things. But the results are being tallied, and so far, it is not looking good for the IACI funded officials that have held power in Idaho for the past three decades. Dorothy Moon’s win at the GOP convention last Saturday may be a strong indicator of the direction Idaho will be taking for the next decade or two. Is Idaho the state that will start a revival back to traditional conservative government? Are Idahoans ready for ultra-conservative, salty leaders like Ammon Bundy? Time will tell, but one thing is for certain, Idahoans are rejecting the status quo and appear to be looking for leadership that will take them back to their conservative roots.
