Election Notes
11.12.21: Durst sues over legislative redistricting plan
The first redistricting lawsuit is on the books — filed by former legislator and current state superintendent’s candidate Branden Durst.
Durst, of Boise, filed his lawsuit with the Idaho Supreme Court Wednesday. He wants the court to ditch the current proposal to redraw Idaho’s 35 legislative districts, and replace it with one Durst drew himself.
The crux of Durst’s lawsuit: The legislative map, approved unanimously by a bipartisan redistricting commission, carves up eight of Idaho’s 44 counties. Durst’s map divides only seven counties.
The redistricting commission is supposed to limit the number of county splits. The commission is supposed to spread the state’s population as equally as possible — limiting the differences in district populations to 10 percent.
In his lawsuit, Durst says his plan meets this 10 percent threshold, as the commission’s map does.
Durst is running for state superintendent on the Republican ticket. As a statewide candidate, however, he isn’t affected by the new legislative map.
One of Durst’s attorneys is Bryan Smith of Idaho Falls, who is challenging U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson in the 2022 GOP primary. The redistricting commission redrew the congressional districts as well, affecting Smith’s campaign, but Wednesday’s lawsuit does not challenge the congressional map.
Durst’s lawsuit is the first of multiple lawsuits expected in the wake of the redistricting process.
11.10.21: Trump endorses McGeachin
The big political news of the week — so far, anyway — came Tuesday, when former President Trump endorsed Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin.
The late afternoon announcement capped a week of maneuvering and public sniping between McGeachin and incumbent Gov. Brad Little.
The timeline:
Nov. 2: McGeachin meets with Trump at his Mar-A-Lago mansion in Palm Beach, Fla., to discuss education and other topics. “We cannot stand idly by and allow the next generation to suffer the consequences of our inaction,” McGeachin said afterwards. “President Trump understands this and I look forward to working with him in the future to bring his America First agenda to Idaho.”
Thursday: Little meets with Trump in Florida.
Friday: The Little-McGeachin feud picks back up. McGeachin calls out Little for leaving the state without her knowledge — failing to designate her as acting governor in his absence. “Did the governor fail to notify my office because he didn’t want me to use my position as acting governor to once again give the power and decision making back to the people of Idaho?” McGeachin asked in a news release. “Regardless of his reasons, he left the state of Idaho without a Governor for multiple days in direct violation of the law.”
Little has maintained he can perform his duties as governor even while he is out of state. And for good measure, Little went to social media to troll McGeachin with a photo from his Florida trip. “Last night it was an honor to be recognized by the 45th President of the United States, Donald Trump. Together we were able to accomplish many great things!”
Tuesday: Trump endorses McGeachin. “Lt. Governor Janice McGeachin has been a true supporter of MAGA since the very beginning,” Trump wrote, in part. “Janice is great on Election Integrity, will always fight for strong Borders, our cherished Second Amendment, American Manufacturing, School Choice, and our wonderful and hardworking FARMERS.”
Political watchers with long-ish memories will remember how a Trump non-endorsement unfolded in the last GOP gubernatorial primary. Trump pulled an endorsement for Raul Labrador, after the Little campaign assembled a montage of videos of Labrador criticizing Trump, the New York Times reported in November 2018.
As for Little’s visit to Florida last week, taxpayers are on the hook for that, to the tune of $2,014. Betsy Russell of the Idaho Press broke that story Tuesday.
11.10.21: A rematch in Madison County
On Wednesday, former state Rep. Britt Raybould said she will challenge current Rep. Ron Nate, R-Rexburg, in the May GOP primary.
In 2020, Nate unseated Raybould, collecting 52 percent of the GOP vote and paving the way to return to the House. (Nate is in the middle of his third House term; he served from 2014 to 2018 before he lost in that year’s GOP primary.)
The differences between Nate and Raybould are stark.
During her two years in the House, Raybould generally governed as a moderate, particularly on the budget-writing Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee. Nate is a hardline conservative — and on JFAC, he has been a sharp critic of Boise State University and social justice spending on college campuses.
House candidates don’t have to declare yet for one of their districts’ two seats in that legislative body. But on her campaign website Wednesday, Raybould made her intentions clear.
“The current representative is a sharp political operative,” she said. “But what has he done for our community? Ron Nate panders to special interest groups. He lets these dark-money lobbyists undermine our core values and unity in this county.”
In Idaho’s newly drawn legislative map, Nate and Raybould would square off in District 34, a standalone Madison County district. The current District 34 includes Madison County and parts of Bonneville County.
11.10.21: Wondering about that new legislative map?
Me too. So I tried to plot out where Idaho’s incumbent lawmakers live — and what legislative districts they might land in for the 2022 elections. Here’s what we know so far.