Bundy leaves GOP primary, runs for governor as independent
This undated booking photo provided by the Ada County Sheriff's Office shows Ammon Bundy who was arrested Thursday, April 8, 2021 on a misdemeanor charge of trespassing at the Idaho Statehouse. Bundy said then that hours spent campaigning to be the next governor of Idaho should count toward his community service requirement after he was convicted of obstructing police during his arrest for trespassing at the state Capitol. (Ada County Sheriff's Office via AP, File)
By REBECCA BOONE
Associated Press
BOISE — Far-right activist Ammon Bundy has dropped out of the Republican primary in Idaho's gubernatorial race, saying he'll run for governor as an independent in November's general election instead.
In a prepared statement released Thursday morning, Bundy criticized Idaho's GOP as “corrupt and wicked.”
“The Republican Party platform is the platform I stand behind but the Republican establishment in Idaho is full of filth and corruption,” Bundy wrote.
Bundy attracted international attention when he led a group of armed activists in the 2016 occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon to protest federal control of public lands. He was later acquitted of federal charges in connection with the occupation.
Last year he was convicted of misdemeanor trespassing and trespassing and resisting or obstructing law enforcement officers at the Idaho Statehouse, stemming from an August 2020 incident. Bundy is also facing another trespassing charge for returning to the Statehouse in April of 2021.
In the statement released Thursday, Bundy criticized several Republican political figures for their own brushes with the law, including a former GOP party chairman who faced stalking and drug charges and other elected officials who were charged with drunken driving.
The Republican race for the governor's seat is crowded, with incumbent Gov. Brad Little far ahead of the rest of the candidates in fundraising. Other candidates include Eagle financial advisor Ed Humphreys and Bonner County Commissioner Steven Bradshaw.