Kootenai County Republican Party Recommendations
The Kootenai County Republican Central Committee announced its recommendations for voters.
"The official Republican Party in Kootenai County is known as the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee or KCRCC for short," said a news release. "The KCRCC is made up of Precinct Committeemen who are elected every two years by the residents from each of the 73 precincts in Kootenai County."
The KCRCC is the only organization whose members are a representative cross-section of the entire county, according to the release.
"This is important because these members vote to decide who will receive the KCRCC recommendation and if a candidate can’t win recommendation it is a good indicator they won’t win the general election," the news release said. "Having the members vote on recommended candidates is just the last step in a long process involving questionnaires, interviews with two separate sub-committees, several meet and greets, background checks and a review of any other pertinent facts. All this information is brought together during a special meeting of the entire KCRCC to review and vote, by secret paper ballots, on who we believe will best serve our community."
Some of the elected officials who earned the KCRCC Recommendation in the past include: Duke Johnson, Steve Matheson, Jennifer Locke, Bruce Mattare, Mike Waggoner, Leslie Duncan, Rachelle Ottosen, Vanessa Robinson, Sandy White, Tim Plass, David Russell, Jeff Tyler, Tom Hanley, Heather Scott, Dale Hawkins, Vito Barbieri, Jordan Redman, Doug "O" Okuniewicz, Joe Alfieri, Elaine Price, Ben Toews, Ron Mendive, Tony Wisniewski, Carl Bjerke, Raul Labrador and Russ Fulcher, to name just a few.
“Democrats have a hard time getting elected with a D next to their name so it has been the stated policy of the Idaho Democrat party to run stealth Democrat candidates in as many ‘nonpartisan’ races as possible so they team up with fake Republican groups like NIR (North Idaho 'Republicans') and DART (Democrats and Republicans Together) to push liberal candidates that don’t represent our community’s values,” said the release. “In the past, deceptive NIR published counterfeits of our recommended candidate list substituting the Democrat endorsed candidates for ours. They were fined by the Secretary of State the maximum allowed by law and were served a Cease and Desist demand letter from the Republican National Headquarters for falsely claiming to be official Republicans. A North Idaho ‘Republicans’ founder publicly supported Biden/Harris.”
Per the news release, the KCRCC is the official Republican Party in Kootenai County, recognized by the Idaho State Republican Party and the Republican National Committee in Washington D.C.
"Look for our copyrighted logo for true conservative candidates. The KCRCC only recommends and supports strong conservative candidates who will stand for all your rights, our party platform and the Constitutions of Idaho and The United States," said the release. "They are not establishment ‘yes men’ for developers and other special interests."
The KCRCC Recommended Candidates for Nov. 7 are:
Coeur d’Alene City Council: Brian Winkler, Clark Albritton and Roger Garlock
Post Falls City Council: Samantha Steigleder, Joe Malloy and Randy Westlund
Rathdrum: Mike Hill and Larry Sanders
Hayden: Luke Sommer and Thomas Shafer
Dalton Gardens: Justin Rupinski and Susan Jean Supp
Kootenai County Fire and Rescue: Tommy LaPonsey
Coeur d’Alene School District: Yasmin A. Harris and Matt Blatt
Lakeland School District: Randi Bain, Ramona Grissom and Michelle Thompson
Kootenai School District: Jonathon Verkist