When I was going to law school in Chicago during the mid-1960s, Mayor Richard Daley was the undisputed boss of the Democratic Party in Cook County. Candidates had to be anointed by Daley if they hoped to win in the primary election. Those who won the Democratic primary were practically guaranteed to win in November. Once elected, candidates were expected to carefully toe the party line in order to keep their offices. I remember thinking at the time that independent-minded Idahoans would never descend to the depths of bossist politics.
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But, politics in Idaho have dramatically changed in recent years, mostly because the Republican Party chose to close its primary election to all but registered members in 2011. That allowed an extreme branch of the GOP to grab power and it has increasingly tightened its grip on the Party ever since. The Party, now controlled by Dorothy Moon with the malign assistance of a number of dark money groups, resembles the old Daley political machine–anointed extremists defeat reasonable, problem-solving Republicans in the closed, low-turnout GOP primary and then coast to victory in November. They maintain their offices by carrying out the dictates of the party bosses. Even statewide officers often bend to the dictates of the political bosses.
About two years ago, former Republican House Speaker Bruce Newcomb, a charter member of the reasonable branch of the GOP, got together with Luke Mayville of Idaho’s all-volunteer Reclaim Idaho voter initiative group, to get rid of bossism in Idaho politics. The plan was to run an initiative to get rid of closed party primaries in the state and ensure that those elected in the general election had majority support from the entire electorate–Republicans, Independents, Democrats, whatever. As we know, that initiative, Prop 1, was handily defeated by the Moon forces on November 5.
There are any number of explanations for the defeat of Prop 1. The large turnout for Donald Trump likely played a part–the yes vote of 30.4% on Prop 1 was exactly the same as the 30.4% for Kamala Harris. The open primary part of the initiative consistently polled over 50% leading up to the election, but the ranked-choice part was a new concept and the subject of repeated false attacks by Moon’s GOP. Prop 1 lost, due to misinformation and fear of the unknown.
Moon and her allies contended that Prop 1 would turn Idaho into a liberal bastion, which was preposterous. Prop 1 was modeled after the Alaska initiative that was first used in that state’s 2022 election. It was well received by Alaskans, although the party bosses there hated it and set up an initiative this year to repeal it. The Moon forces claimed it was a disaster and would be repealed by Alaskans. In fact, they liked it and voted to retain it. Incidentally, Alaska voters replaced their Democratic Congresswoman with a Republican and replaced two Democratic House members with Republicans. Alaska has not become a liberal bastion, but its politics have become more civil and pragmatic.
Even though Prop 1 lost, there is much to be thankful for in this Thanksgiving season. I’m thankful for the 2,000 unpaid signature gatherers who braved the elements to gather 97,000 signatures to get the initiative on the ballot. AnnMarie Johnson and all of those who helped to raise well over $1 million from within the state are also to be thanked and, of course, those contributors. It was a herculean effort that brought people together across Idaho to accomplish a worthy goal. The campaign brought the bossism issue front and center, even though the proposed solution was voted down. The issue won’t go away until bossism is eliminated in the Gem State.
The coalition of good-government groups that came together to support Prop 1 may find themselves cooperating on future measures to improve representative governing in Idaho. Reclaim Idaho, North Idaho Republicans, Veterans for Idaho Voters, Mormon Women for Ethical Government, Take Back Idaho and a number of other groups deserve thanks for their intrepid work. Many young people proved themselves to be effective supporters and spokespersons for this good government measure. I suspect we may see some of them, like Hyrum Erickson from Rexburg and J.D. Gould from Buhl, trying to make Idaho a better place to live.
A blessed Thanksgiving for all of them. And, while I’m at it, a good Thanksgiving, also, to all of my fellow Idahoans, including the bosses who opposed Prop 1.
