OPINION: IDGOP winter meeting

The Idaho Republican Party State Central Committee meets every six months to receive reports from our party officers and to consider new rules and resolutions. The Winter Meeting was held last week in Boise and was well attended. 

The IDGOP State Central Committee is the ultimate authority for the Idaho Republican Party. The 228 members include the Chairman, State Committeeman, State Committeewoman and Youth Committee person from each of the 44 counties, the Chairman of each of the 35 Legislative Districts and the 17 members of the Executive Committee.   

Any grievance or complaint of violation of party rules is first sent to the State Chairman for a decision. If there is an appeal of that decision it is made to the Executive Committee and if there is a further appeal it goes to the State Central Committee which has the final say. Any further litigation would have to be filed in the local District Court.  

Both the Rules and Resolutions have standing committees which meet prior to the SCC General Assembly to consider submitted proposed rules or resolutions. A proposed rule or resolution must first be passed by a County or Legislative District committee before being considered by their respective standing committees. 

The Resolutions Committee considered 32 proposed resolutions, of which 21 were included in the Resolutions Committee report. These resolutions are available on the IDGOP.org website.  

When the Rules Chairman or the Resolutions Chairman gives their report they end with a motion for the SCC to adopt the report. Any member can ask for any rule or resolution in their reports to be divided out and considered separately. The remaining items are considered in a single vote. The divided items are then considered. At this meeting there were two resolutions that were divided and considered separately.     

One resolution called for the state legislature to be restored back to its original intended composition with one senator from each county as opposed to one senator from each Legislative District. This would mirror our Federal government and would ensure that small rural counties did not lose representation to large populated counties. This resolution was adopted.   

The other divided resolution called for the censure of Hyrum Erikson in response to his support of Proposition 1. The Republican Party had voted to oppose the Ranked Choice Initiative Proposition 1 and spent considerable time and treasure to campaign for its defeat. Mr. Erikson supported Proposition 1 as an elected member of the party and worked directly against the efforts of other party members. As an individual, Mr. Erikson is free to support whatever he chooses. However, if he presents himself as a member of the party then he is bound to support the positions of the party. The will of the majority is the will of the organization. This resolution of censure was adopted.  

There were 16 proposed rules submitted. Six of these passed through the Rules Committee and were included in the final report. Most of the propose rules dealt with making minor improvements or correction to the rules. One rule allowed for meetings to be simultaneously held at more than one location if the county or legislative district was larger than 100 miles in any direction. The Rules Report was adopted without objection.  

Also discussed at the Winter Meeting was the matter involving Bingham County. In September of 2023 the Chairman of the Bingham County Republican Party announced he would be resigning in a few weeks. Prior to his resignation taking effect he noticed and chaired a meeting where his replacement was nominated and “elected.” The problem is that the IDGOP rules require there to be a vacancy in an office BEFORE the replacement is elected AND that the Vice Chairman, not the Chairman, is the one who calls and chairs the meeting to fill the vacancy.  

Some of the Bingham County Precinct Committeemen were aware of the rules and objected to the violation and were ignored. Subsequently they filed a rules violation complaint with the Chairman who reviewed the facts with council and determined that the election was not done in accordance with the rules and was therefore void. Notice was sent to Bingham County informing them they needed to repeat the election within 30 days.  

Bingham County ignored the rules again. IDGOP rules require that if the meeting to elect a new chairman is not conducted within 30 days then the State Chairman shall call a meeting to elect a new chairman. However, rather than comply with the rules or file an appeal with the Executive Committee the Bingham County Vice Chairman went to District Court and secured an injunction to prevent their central committee from being properly organized.  

Bingham County claimed that Madam Chairman Dorothy Moon was attempting to take over Bingham County and force “her people” into office. Nothing could be further from the truth. The simple fact is that all action taken by the State Chairman was prescribed by the rules. No interpretation was needed.  

The effect of this was that Bingham County was not recognized as properly organized and they were unable to attend the State Convention that was held here in Coeur d’Alene last summer and after spending over $10,000 in legal fees they were out of cash and could not pay their party dues. Furthermore, Bingham County was unable to properly organize after the Primary Election in May.  

What a mess, but in the end the judge determined that Bingham County violated Idaho state law, Republican Party rules and their own Bylaws. Madam Chairman Moon was in the right and graciously called and chaired a meeting so that Bingham County could properly organize and then participate in the Winter Meeting.  

The lesson here was simple, follow the rules.  

It’s just common sense.

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Brent Regan is chairman of the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee.