OPINION: Far-right GOP primary wins make supporting Democrats essential
Rep. Lauren Necochea
Democracies are unhealthy without a balance of power between the parties and accountability at the ballot box. Sadly, Idaho’s ruling party is steadily moving deeper into extremism, fueled by low-turnout closed primaries that attract extreme conservative voters far outside the mainstream and millions in out-of-state spending from far-right extremists.
The results of the Idaho Primary Election illustrate this deepening shift in the GOP. Fifteen Republican incumbents, including long-term GOP leaders, were defeated. Senate President Pro Tem Chuck Winder was once at the conservative edge of his Republican caucus. Just a decade ago, his colleagues determined his bill mandating transvaginal ultrasounds for patients seeking abortion care went too far. Winder just lost his primary to a far-right politician who parachuted into Idaho from California.
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