As the conservative candidates line up for Idaho’s gubernatorial primary I have to think back to the 2014 primary election when Otter beat out Fulcher by less than 8% of the vote and eventually won a third term. That was the year that Labrador said he was going to run and held up Fulcher’s campaign launch by 4 or 5 months before deciding not to run. This put Fulcher at a complete disadvantage when running against an incumbent like Otter.
In 2018, we had Doctor Alhquist turned developer join in the 3 way primary with Labrador and Little only to give Little the governorship by winning only 37.3% of the vote in the primary. Ahlquist said he spent almost 3 million of his own money and only got 26.2% of the vote but enough to kill Labrador’s chances of winning. To this day I still believe that Ahlquist entered the race to stop Labradors from becoming governor. Tommy has proven time and again that he is not a real conservative but one of the elitist cronies who use taxpayer money to help themselves get wealthy and powerful with his urban renewal projects.
This primary is setting up to be another opportunity for the republican conservatives to shoot themselves in the foot yet one more time. We now have 3 conservative candidates running in a race that is sure to hand the governorship once again to Chicken Little. We have Eddie Humphries who is supposedly a financial wizard with other people’s money but has never held a public. He speaks well on the radio but where is he going to come up with a million dollars which is just the entry fee for this race.
This guy seems to have some good ideas but no one knows him around the state which means he is going to have to do a lot of traveling and talking just to get his name out there so people will recognize it on the ballot. This is just what happened to Tommy Ahlquist he had to get people to know who he was and why he was running but when you spend 3 million and only get 26.2% of the vote you have to wonder how will someone like Humphries get himself recognized without a bankroll like Tommy’s? He is certainly involved in the Republican Party but does anyone think that the good old boys are going to support this newbie to the political arena. I doubt it. If “Fast Eddie” is going to run for anything it should be for Lt. Governor to get his feet wet and see if he can handle the heat from our liberal press for four years.
Then there is Ammon Bundy who had a lot of name recognition both state-wide and nationally but again where will he come up with the million bucks for the entry fee. Ammon is certainly a man of principle and a devote Christian so he will have a decent following but I still doubt that he would be able to win the independent and the moderate republican vote to take down Brad Little.
He will certainly garner the right-wing conservative vote but will that be enough to win in a 4-way race. Possibly but the governor’s race has always been a money game and if you don’t have the money to play you can’t win. Bundy also had no political experience and although I would consider him a very smart man we are talking about running the state of Idaho with a budget of $9 billion. I happen to like Ammon as a candidate but adding himself into the mix is only going to help Little win in a 4-way election.
My money would be on Janice McGeachin who had been engaged in the political arena for almost two decades. She was a member of the Idaho House of Representatives from 2002 to 2012 as chair of the state House Health and Welfare Committee, she cut Medicaid funding and voted against legislation to create a state-based health insurance exchange. An ally of the Tea Party movement, McGeachin was considered a possible Republican primary challenger to U.S. Representative Mike Simpson in 2010 but chose not to run.
McGeachin participated as a delegate for Donald Trump at the 2016 Republican National Convention and was vice-chair of Trump’s Idaho campaign committee. While McGeachin has a Bachelor’s degree in Finance and Accounting from the University of Arizona she also runs two successful businesses with her husband. She did take federal money to keep both of those businesses alive and her employees working. She fought Governor Littles emergency powers takeover of Idaho’s government and has been highly critical of the way he has used those powers to suck up as much federal money as possible while leaving the peoples’ representatives out in the cold when it came to spending the federal money.
Janice is not a member of the elitist cadre of Idaho but understands how they work and why they keep winning elections year after year. She is someone we would call a proven true conservative by her actions for the past 20 years. She has stood up for many on the far right and understands that government is of the people by the people and for all the people. Many are saying that she could be another Kristi Noem the current governor of South Dakota. Personally, I believe she can be even better than Noem when it comes to conservative government, but it is the voters of Idaho who will ultimately make that decision.
In any case, we can tell you right now that if Idahoans want as conservative governor they had better let the other two candidates know that they need to find another race to get into because if they say in the governor’s race you can bet Little will win another 4 years. Keep in mind something I have been saying for years that the Governor controls the purse strings for all of the public employees of the state and most people tend to vote with their wallets. If you do some digging you will find that the number of state employees is somewhere in the neighborhood of 36,000 when you include those in public education. That, my friends, adds up to a swing vote with husbands and wives of over 70,000 votes.
Aside from Tommy Ahlquist, this is the only reason that Little won the last primary for governor. Little thinks he is king of Idaho and it is time to remove him from his phony throne and let him go back to chasing cattle and leasing his land to oil and gas companies. After four years of Little Idaho has found out what happens when you put someone in office who was never qualified to do the job. Remember this is the man who was the chairman of IACI the Idaho Association of Commerce and Industry the most powerful lobby in the state and you can bet they want to keep the power they currently have with him in office. It’s time to throw the bums out and bring in some real conservatives who are not tied to big-time lobbyists. Why would conservative Idaho want to reelect a governor who believes in climate change and calls Columbus Day Indigenous Person Day? Little is about as conservative as Mitt Romney and we don’t need a Romney clone running Idaho.
Remember People, “We Get the Government We Deserve”.
15 replies on “Will Conservatives Shoot Themselves in the Foot Again?”
We Conservatives need to start coalescing around McGeachin early. Chicken Little has to go and while Bundy has some strong principles, the press will eat him alive and drive away the moderates because of his history. Janice has proven that she has what it takes to lead this state as a true conservative but we need to open the eyes of the ignorant.
You are 100% correct as to why we have a little Governor. The same thing is going to happen again if we cannot get the other two to drop out. The Lt Governor is by far our best and only real choice. Any suggestions as to how we can get others to realize that all they are doing is to insure another term for little Little?
How do we get the word out for Janice? What do we need to do? Help please….
I agree that Ammon and Humphries are spoilers and need to get out of the race. We do not need 4 more years of Emperor Little. Ammon needs to start with the legislature. Run for a house seat or a senate seat in his district, but please do not split the vote in the governor’s race.
BTW, Ammon is a devoted Mormon, not Christian. There is a difference.
Whether or not Mormons are Christian has always been a debatable question, however they do consider themselves christian.
Completely agree that Everyone besides McGeachin, should drop out & put all their support behind her to beat Little. She will be a great governor who follows the U.S. & Idaho Constitutions, and is actually for “We the People”! Let’s all pray for our great state!
And just to help with any confusion…“Mormons” are absolutely Christians. “Mormon” is a nickname given to the church by non-members, but the real name is “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints”. He is the head of our church, and all who are members accept Jesus Christ as the Savior of the world! We study His words & works in the Bible. We strive to be like Him! We love Him! He is everything! He is “ …the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” John 14:6 Is that not a Christian? 🙂
I agree that McGeachin is the best and most electable candidate to face Little, hands down.
Humphries smells like a plant to siphon votes.
Bundy doesn’t strike me as a big-picture guy. More of an “it’s me-alone- against the evil system” guy, except that such an attitude works FOR the system in this case rather than against.
If Bundy and Humphries are actually legit, patriotic conservatives, they need to talk to McGeachin’s camp and reach some agreement. 3 legit MAGA conservatives in office is better than one (McGeachin) plus two rino’s (or just 3 rino’s…). McGeachin’s current office will need to be filled and there’s always another rino who needs replacing elsewhere in government.
We should learn much about the state Republican party through this process, and just how much cleaning needs to be done.
_It seems more and more like Ammons entering the race 2 days after Janice was a calculated move to take the wind out of Janice’s sails, which is smart if he is trying to beat her. That he is not “officially” announcing for a month seems to add merit to this idea, like he wasn’t actually ready to announce but had to do something because he didn’t want to have everyone getting hyped on Janice, only to then later come in to the race. If he waited too long after her it would have seemed like he was working against the people and being obtuse.
It’s time to scare the crap out of the stupid Republican voter.
If Brad Little wins the Republican Primary, I intend to vote for the Democrat in November. We will be better off with an impotent Dem than a RINO Republican. We’ll get gridlock and less damage will be done to Idaho as the Dem Governor fights with a 80% Republican Legislature.
Join me. Chicken Little must lose, no matter who wins.
McGeachin has shown herself to be a real conservative. Hopefully there is adequate time to consolidate conservative support behind her prior to the primary election.
There are others in the race besides those you mention. We have to find some way to convince them to withdraw. They cannot win, but will make it easy for Little to win. So far Little has not filed, but that really does not mean anything. Lots of people don ‘t like Little, but he is strongly supported by the RINOs. This is a tough situation. I know Janice can beat Little, and I don’t think any of the rest can beat him, including Bundy. So our task is simply to convince the rest not to run.
Thanks
Jim Hollingsworth
jimhollingsworth@frontier.com
Really, another term of Gov. Little. Why would even he consider that. Yep, I voted for him last time and was reluctant to do it, figuring he was the lesser of the evils. Facts are facts and evil is evil, in any form. And I can honestly say that under the leadership of Governor Little my life, and that of my families, isn’t any better. He has done nothing to recognize our divine rights, protected by the constitution of the State of Idaho or the United States constitution. He has done so much to push a personal agenda and ignore the will of the people. He has repeatedly minimized the livelihoods of all private businesses and employees of our state. Not once has he ever asked for, or considered the opinions of our Lt. governor, an elected public official, and repeatedly ignored her and her constituency. He doesn’t possess the intellect to exercise independent thought or reason, relying solely on the opinions of non-elected officials, both locally and federally, to determine state direction. He has no regard for individual property rights and is/was more than willing to use state and local law enforcement to impose his “mandates” on the citizens of Idaho. He has refused to relinquish any of his “powers” as recognized by him alone, again, in ignorance to the will of the people. And the list goes on. But the problem doesn’t stop with governor Little. Idaho needs to replace, through the ballot box, a number of elected officials from governor, mayors, and school board members that reflect personal agendas and not the will of the people. I believe that starts with a Governor Janice McGeachin and Lt. Governor Patricia Giddings. I know both personally away from politics and believe that they will work together as a team for Idaho and The United Stats of America.
Idaho’s, and the federal government’s elections should be like some states have: To win, a person must have 50% plus one vote.
PAPER BALLOTS MUST BE USED, AND NO ELECTRONIC VOTING MACHINES
The ballots would let a voter pick which candidate they want 1st, then 2nd, etc. The voters would not have to vote for all of the candidates.
After the first vote, if nobody has enough votes, the person with the lowers number of votes would be eliminated, then the ballots would be counted again. This would be done util one person gets at least 50% plus one of the votes.
I relocated to Idaho last year (2020) and have been trying to get an understanding about the political climate here. I listen to Kevin Miller most mornings but, with all the different opinions it hard for an outsider to get a handle on what is actually going on here. Maybe someone could respond with some suggestions on a direction to pursue. Thanks
The comparison of Janice with Kristy Noem certainly isn’t going to help her out.
Noem looked pretty good 2 years back, but any candidate kissing the backside of a Romney (and national RNC) has clearly made her long-term intentions clear.