Survey reflects what matters to Idaho Republicans

Thank goodness, sanity rules in the Idaho Republican Party.

The trickle-down theory doesn't appear to apply to the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee, but that comes as no surprise.

The statewide party recently tapped into the opinions of some 6,000 Idaho Republicans, and the revelations were refreshing.

First, according to party chairman Tom Luna, Idaho Republicans by a 2-to-1 margin don't support health care providers mandating vaccines for their employees.

However, by the same preponderance of opinion, Idaho Republicans also don't think government should be involved in that decision. Are you paying attention, Janice McGeachin?

"Republicans in our state made it clear to us how they feel about this tough issue," Luna said. "While roughly 70 percent of the respondents do not believe hospitals should require vaccinations as a condition of employment, 70 percent also believe that the government should not make those decisions for business owners. I hope this helps our legislators in their discussions and decision-making. It certainly helps put it into perspective for me."

The survey also asked respondents to rank issues by importance. Even though critical race theory has stoked fires of passion among conservatives in the national conversation and filled editorial pages coast to coast, it ranked lowest among important issues on the Idaho GOP survey.

After employers requiring employees to be vaccinated, respondents said that, in order, population growth, property taxes and emergency declarations were the most important issues facing Idahoans. Those would seem to draw broad agreement from independents and Democrats, as well.

Unfortunately, one burning question went unanswered. Nobody asked what Idaho Republicans think of Nelly.