Republicans face a test of extremists' power in Idaho's primaries

[dalton99a]

https://www.npr.org/2022/04/08/1091435312/idaho-primary-republican-party-politics

Republicans face a test of extremists' power in Idaho's primaries
April 8, 2022 5:00 AM ET

There was a moment when cattle rancher Jennifer Ellis decided she couldn't stand on the sidelines anymore. It was when Ammon Bundy, who led an armed takeover of a federal wildlife refuge in Oregon and was later acquitted, moved to Idaho and began mounting his campaign for governor.

"When you see him rising in the national consciousness as some kind of a cowboy rancher, that gets a little touchy," Ellis said one windy afternoon on her ranch near Blackfoot, Idaho.

To Ellis, Bundy gave ranchers — actual, working, public lands ranchers who follow the law and pay their fees — a bad name. Self-described moderate Republicans like her viewed the scofflaw rebellion as a precursor to today's right-wing politics of conspiracies and trolling becoming mainstreamed. Ellis is also alarmed by the meanness and threats directed at anyone with opposing viewpoints.

"It's dividing communities," she says. "They love the politics of fear."

[Thomas Hurt]

1. You can write off Idaho if that whackjob gets to be gov.

Bundy is another a hole who thinks he is King. He is likely to screw the ID economy and loot the state resources.

[jmowreader]

2. I'm more worried about McGeachin

She’s got the Magic R behind her name.