Idaho Republicans poised to reject 2020 election results

FILE - The Idaho Statehouse is seen at sunrise on April 20, 2021, in Boise, Idaho. The Idaho Republican Party will consider 31 resolutions at its three-day convention starting Thursday, July 14, 2022, including one already adopted by Texas Republicans that President Joe Biden isn't the legitimate leader of the country. (AP Photo/Keith Ridler, File)

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The Idaho Republican Party will consider 31 resolutions at its three-day convention starting Thursday, including one already adopted by Texas Republicans that President Joe Biden isn’t the legitimate leader of the country.

The Idaho resolution in the deeply conservative state that Donald Trump won with 64% of the vote in 2020 is nearly identical to the Texas resolution that was passed last month, stating: “We reject the certified results of the 2020 presidential election; and we hold that acting president Joseph Robinette Biden was not legitimately elected by the people of the United States.”

Both the Idaho and Texas resolutions contend that secretaries of state circumvented their state legislatures, even though both states have Republican secretaries of state.

Jim Jones, a former chief justice of the Idaho Supreme Court as well as a former Republican state attorney general, called the resolution rejecting the 2020 presidential election results “asinine,” noting multiple courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, rejected attempts to overturn the election.

“(The Idaho Republican Party) has gotten so caught up in conspiracy theories, meaningless culture war issues, that they have quit being able to function as a meaningful political party,” he said. “We have got to get away from this authoritarian streak that has infected the Idaho Republican Party, as well as a good part of the nation, because it’s absolutely tearing our country apart.”

Idaho’s resolution goes further than the Texas resolution in that it falsely states that audits found the vote count for the 2020 election to be fraudulent in Wisconsin and Arizona.

In Wisconsin, election fraud claims have been dismissed by courts or rejected by the state’s bipartisan election commission.

In Arizona, where Republicans submitted a slate of fake electors, Trump supporters hired inexperienced consultants to run “a forensic audit” that was discredited. FBI agents looking into events surrounding Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss recently subpoenaed the Republican Arizona Senate president, who orchestrated a discredited review of the election.

MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, a Trump ally, even accused Idaho of allowing election fraud. But the Idaho secretary of state said a partial recount of ballots validated the accuracy of the 2020 results.

Jaclyn Kettler, a Boise State University political scientist, said revisiting the 2020 election by different state or local Republican party officials “seems to be an issue that is commanding a lot of attention still in the Republican party. It may continue to cast doubt on our elections and increase fears of voters that their votes are not being counted.”

Among the other proposed Idaho Republican Party resolutions this week is one calling for not recognizing “imaginary identities,” a resolution aimed at transgender people.

Multiple resolutions involve voting, several focusing on people not deemed sufficiently Republican voting in Republican primaries.

One resolution, titled “A Resolution to Protect Rural Representation,” calls for changing Idaho’s system for statewide elections into a national-style electoral college, a process that sometimes leads to candidates winning without receiving the most votes.

Trump, for example, in 2016 defeated Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton by winning more electoral college votes despite losing the popular vote by about 3 million votes. The proposed system for Idaho would tally electoral votes from counties. Such a change in Idaho would require changing the state’s constitution.

Another proposed resolution calls for privatizing Idaho Public Television, a long-time target of far-right Republicans.

The Idaho Republican Party will also elect officers during the gathering. First-term incumbent Chair Tom Luna, who served two terms as the state’s schools chief, is being challenged by Republican Rep. Dorothy Moon. Moon ran unsuccessfully in the Republican primary in May for secretary of state, contending the 2020 presidential election was fraudulent and Biden wasn’t president.

Mainstream Idaho Republicans, who would be considered far-right in many states, have dominated the state for three decades. But they have become targets of far-right members of their own party and labeled as RINOs — Republican in name only.

The May primary was a mixed bag for the two groups, and the power struggle will likely continue at the convention.

In the primary, first-term incumbent Gov. Brad Little crushed Trump-backed Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin, and most other statewide races went to more mainstream Idaho Republicans. But Raul Labrador, a favorite of the Tea Party during his eight years in the U.S. House, defeated five-term Attorney General Lawrence Wasden, well known for a strategy of simply calling balls and strikes that oftentimes irked his Republican colleagues when he gave them legal advice they didn’t want to hear.

Several far-right lawmakers in the House lost their seats, but the Senate turned decidedly more conservative with mainstream losses that included the co-chairman of the legislature’s powerful budget-setting committee.

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This story has been updated to correct that convention begins Thursday, not Wednesday.

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31 Comments

  • Dan July 18, 2022 at 4:25 pm Reply

    republicans will completely destroy this country before they’ll admit the most-criminal president in history lost

    • Fed up July 19, 2022 at 6:32 pm Reply

      Republicans? There are some who have obviously sold out our country, yet who’s the party currently in power that has attacked our common sense? Who has driven gas and energy prices through the roof? Who can’t seem to define what a woman or a man is? Who tries to indoctrinate school-aged children into believing they’re really the opposite “gender” and promoting sex-reassignment surgery and puberty blockers? Then threatens parents with the FBI when they oppose this blatant abuse? Who outright encourage and promote violence as a legitimate course of action? Who installed bumbling puppet, Joe Biden, aka “The Big Guy” who can’t even utter a coherent sentence? Who lied about Hunter Biden’s laptop for the last year? Who tried to conjure up false allegations of “Russian collusion” against Trump which were proven to be completely fabricated? Who stole the election and continue to tout that the 2020 election was the “most secure in American history”? etc, etc, etc, the list of democrat treason continues ad infinitum. What party is that? That’s right! It’s the democrats! Perhaps you’ll want to reevaluate your train of thought along with the media outlet from which you receive your phony information.

      • Fed up July 20, 2022 at 12:54 am Reply

        Dan, you also referred to “the most criminal president in history,” that’s quite a bold and incredibly false accusation to make, especially in comparison to Joe Biden and his family’s documented criminal behavior that has spanned decades as well as several continents. To what crimes/convictions are you referencing? Care to elaborate on these purported ghastly offenses? And, being “mean,” “offensive,” and/or blatantly honest aren’t crimes just in case you were confused.

        • Dan July 20, 2022 at 4:07 pm Reply

          Hahahaha if you don’t think Donald is guilty of any crimes you are woefully ignorant. Did you forget when he tried to overthrow the federal government? Or when he tried to extort Ukraine with our money? Those were just the two crimes that led to successful impeachment. Start there, and then we can teach you about all the other crimes.

      • Dan July 20, 2022 at 9:15 am Reply

        Hahahahaha whaaaaaaaaaaaaattttt

        • Fed up July 21, 2022 at 10:57 am Reply

          It’s okay, Dan, I understand that you don’t have the mental fortitude nor the moral courage which is required in order to face and stomach the truth. I understand that in order to protect your fragile state of mind and your flawed perception of reality you would rather believe lies; for some reason some people just seem to value being mindless and unthinking automatons. Alas, it’s quite apparent that you’re not equipped with the necessary courage, nor the necessary intellect to question the “popular” narrative spewed forth by the lying mainstream media. It’s a pity. Perhaps you’ll follow the cowardly lion’s example and go find some courage. Until you do, my heart goes out to you. Once again, best wishes.

      • joe schmoe July 21, 2022 at 10:26 am Reply

        well said..

        • Free Bird July 21, 2022 at 5:54 pm Reply

          Agreed! Oh, bobette has to keep changing it’s name, this time it is Dan, any bets on it’s new screename?

  • Verlo July 18, 2022 at 9:14 pm Reply

    How could anyone reject that Brandon got 81 million votes. Most popular president in history. All while sniffing little girls, showering with his daughter and never leaving his basement. Yeah, the most secure and honest election in history, lol!

    • Jack July 19, 2022 at 2:04 pm Reply

      You’re the problem.

      • Fed up July 19, 2022 at 4:25 pm Reply

        Nope, Jack. You are, along with others who act and believe in a similar fashion. Your ignorance and ineptitude to even remotely recognize the truth is the main problem that plagues the population of our once great nation. Biden and the democrats stole the 2020 election, and they’re going to try it again. The democrats are counting on the apathy you display, and which is reflected in the population, to sit back and swallow the lies they continually feed you. Do some research.

        • Dan July 20, 2022 at 9:17 am Reply

          Hahahaha do some research you say, after you once again parrot the big lie which still has absolutely no evidence in support of it

          • Fed up July 20, 2022 at 10:22 am

            It’s okay, Dan, I understand that you don’t have the fortitude nor the moral courage it takes to stomach the truth. I understand that in order to protect your fragile state of mind and your flawed perception of reality you would rather believe lies than know the truth. Alas, some people just aren’t equipped with courage, or with the necessary strength to question the “popular” narrative. It’s a pity you fall into that category. I hope you’ll follow the cowardly lion’s example and go find some courage. Until you do, my heart goes out to you. Best wishes.

      • Ttunac July 19, 2022 at 4:48 pm Reply

        Says the guy who said HRC was ‘robbed by the russians’ for four years…

  • whoknows July 18, 2022 at 10:05 pm Reply

    obviously biased article – par for AP

    • Sarah Israelson July 19, 2022 at 2:08 pm Reply

      The article is completely factual. Just because you don’t like something doesn’t mean it’s a lie.

      • Fed up July 19, 2022 at 3:58 pm Reply

        Who’s facts? Have you personally seen the so-called facts? Or do you just simply assume the media tells the public the truth? The 2020 election was a complete farce, stolen by Biden and the democrats and they’re going to try it again in the midterms; the widespread utter ignorance and apathy of the general population to seek out the truth is precisely why they think they can get away with it. Do some research. Or are you afraid you’ll find out something that you don’t like?

        • Abe Lincoln July 20, 2022 at 6:16 pm Reply

          “whose”

          • Fed up July 21, 2022 at 1:32 am

            Actually, “Whose” rather than “whose” as capitalization is key. Deuces, Abe. Thanks.

        • skeetr July 22, 2022 at 1:23 pm Reply

          not fox “we aren’t real journalists” or facebook “lies from bigoted neighbors”

      • bobette July 19, 2022 at 4:04 pm Reply

        It was totally biased, produced by a liberal media.

  • KA July 19, 2022 at 3:37 am Reply

    No one cares, Idaho. Stop crying already.

    • Trini Creger July 20, 2022 at 8:06 am Reply

      The main street media is lying to us. For truth go to x22report.com

  • Calvin Winslow July 19, 2022 at 7:22 am Reply

    This country needs to replace at least 50% of those elected officials who are committed to destroying America and our beautiful way of life. We have men and women, democrats and republicans, who are determined to use their power as a politician to get rich while screwing the American taxpayers. We need term limits and age limits in Congress and the Presidency as our current leaders are past ready for the old politician’s retirement home. We have politicians who are using their positions to get rich while doing nothing for the country.

  • JO July 20, 2022 at 9:06 am Reply

    Wait, *checks notes*, wouldn’t this actually remove electoral votes from Trump?
    Oh, it is symbolic! This is entirely consistent with the “stop the steal” grift.

    We still have no evidence of fraud that would have been close to changing the results, none. We’ve had recounts, investigations, more recounts. We’ve had at least 60 court cases and none have found any issues. True, some cases were simply thrown out, but for what? Yep, lack of evidence.

    Ten of millions of dollars have been spent looking for evidence. Many very conservative leaders, lawyers and investigators have examined what evidence that exists and concluded that there was not evidence that there was no fraud.

    For those who think this defies logic. Remember that there were many people who hated Trump as much or more than those who loved him. This includes many traditional republicans and many independents. Biden led in every poll leading up to the election. Why is his win not logical?

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