Reilly — for governor?

A controversial contender who recently changed from a Republican to a Democrat has joined Idaho's gubernatorial race as a write-in candidate.

"For years the Democrat party has endorsed far-left extremism," David J. Reilly said on his "David J. Reilly for Precinct Captain" Facebook page.

"From abortion, to Antifa and Black Lives Matter, to $7 gasoline and the destruction of women’s sports. It has gone on long enough. I am officially announcing my run for governor of Idaho, as a Democrat," the Sunday evening post reads. "Together, we will make Democrats conservative again!"

Reilly registered as a Democrat and filed to run for a Democratic precinct captain position March 10. He filed as a gubernatorial write-in candidate Friday.

"I got the idea from the Democrats," Reilly told The Press on Monday.

"I generally got the idea when I ran for office this past year for school board. I saw Democrats switching parties, I got the idea around the end of my last campaign," he said. "I started researching it and was astounded at how many Democrats switched to Republicans."

He referred to a 2014 election when longtime Republican Larry Spencer filed as a Democratic candidate for Kootenai County assessor.

Reilly said he thinks a lot of people in both parties in North Idaho have problems with the way both parties are doing business in Washington, D.C.

"We need a voice of dissent," Reilly said. "It’s time that we take the party back from these extremists, these extreme radical leftists, and actually have a fighting chance winning some elections against Republicans."

He said the reception since he shared the news of his candidacy has been "fantastic."

"I’ve already received several hundreds of dollars in donations in the past 24 hours alone,” he said.

He said he aligns with the Democratic Party.

"There's a lot about the Democrat Party I love," Reilly said. "I know, personally, dozens of Democrats who woke up in 2016 only to find out they were in the party of identity politics, LGBT ideology and socialism. They were shocked. They were horrified to wake up one day and that’s how it was.

"A lot of them have stayed Democrat and they’re just pissed," he added.

He said the constituents he is speaking to are Democrats, Libertarians, Constitutionalists and those who are unaffiliated.

Reilly, of Post Falls, was endorsed by the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee when he ran for the Post Falls School Board last year. A newcomer who recently relocated from Pennsylvania, Reilly was defeated by long-time Post Falls resident Jake Dawson, who earned 53% of the vote.

"The Republicans in this county have the KCRCC," Reilly said, adding that there are people who are unaffiliated or on their own.

"That's who I'm speaking for," he said. "That's who I'm running for."

When asked his reaction to Reilly joining the Idaho governor race as a write-in candidate for the Democratic Party, KCRCC Chairman Brent Regan responded via email: "I wondered if Mr. Reilly was inspired by the Democrat activist, Cheri Zao, who affiliated as a Republican and is running in the primary as a Republican."

He said Reilly would not have the support of the KCRCC in this capacity.

"The Kootenai County Republican Central Committee has recommended candidates for our primary and may endorse Republican primary winners for the general election," Regan wrote. "Apparently Mr. Reilly has affiliated as a Democrat so obviously he would not have our support."

Controversy swirls around Reilly, who has received national criticism for writings that disparaged Jewish people, women and other demographics. He has been called an "antisemitic troll" by The Daily Beast.

A 2017 article from Pennsylvania news organization The Daily Item reported Reilly resigned from his job as an on-air personality at WHLM, a radio station owned by his father, Joe Reilly, a day after the station suspended him for posting a white supremacist video and tweets that caused public outcry and demonstrations against the station. Several advertisers also severed their relationships with the station.

While at the radio station, Reilly reported on the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virg., and interviewed event organizer Jason Kessler. According to a 2017 report by the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the event was the “largest gathering of white nationalists in more than a decade, with more than 500 protesters.”

Reilly's name also appeared in recent local reports that members of the KCRCC had plans to "infiltrate" the Kootenai Democrats and install him as the party chair.

“David J. Reilly, and the hateful beliefs he has espoused for years, have no place in our great state much less the Idaho Democratic Party," Idaho Democratic Party Chair Lauren Necochea stated in a Monday news release in response to Reilly's gubernatorial write-in bid.

"Idaho Democrats fight for fairness and opportunity for ALL Idahoans. His words and actions contradict all the values we hold dear," she said. "Reilly, who has previously been endorsed by the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee, receives the exact opposite from us — a disavowment. I’m confident that Democrats will show Reilly just how unwelcome he is on May 17, when he will once again lose at the ballot box."