This past Tuesday the state’s primary results handed down an odd mixed bag for GOP incumbents as Gem State Governor Brad Little (R) scratched out a victory in an overly crowded primary. In the same vein, the longest-serving Idaho attorney general lost the primaries to a former Tea Party Congressman that made promises to use his power in a much more aggressive style.
The gubernatorial race in Idaho was quite the show as it featured the incumbent Little, along with his Trump-endorsed Lieutenant Governor Janice McGeachin up against a group of six other various candidates.
“I felt the honor of serving the great state of Idaho in good times and in tough times,” stated Little in the wake of his victory in the primaries. “Once again I’m humbled by the awesome opportunity to serve and work for the great people of Idaho.”
In the run-up to the race, the nation’s attention was turned to Idaho for its apparent and extreme rivalry on display between Little and McGeachin.
The state constitution for Idaho currently allows the Lieutenant governor to set in place executive orders and various other policies as long as the governor is currently out of state, and MCGeachin made sure to make use of this loophole extensively, only for Little to come back and quickly undo everything she tried to set up while he was gone, almost immediately.
Little had previously defended his conservative credentials through media interviews by arguing, “The proof is in the pudding.” Little stated to The Idaho Statesman that cutting the red tape and giving tax relief “are not what you would associate with somebody that is not a Republican.”
It would seem that many Idaho voters were in agreement with his assessment, as Little managed to garner over 52.86% of the vote this past Tuesday evening. In her own right, McGeachin managed to get 32.20%. The rest of the group of six candidates managed to just scrape together about 2% of the vote.
Things were a bit different in regards to the attorney general race, former 1st District GOP Congressman Raul Labrador took down Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden in the Republican primary held Tuesday, The Idaho Capital Sun stated in a Wednesday morning report.
Labrador is known as a previously popular candidate from the Tea Party that was originally elected to Congress back in 2010. However, in 2018 he managed to lose the state’s gubernatorial primary to Little. Wasden has held his position as the state’s attorney general for well over 20 years.
Labrador seems to have won by making the accusation that his opponent is not being aggressive enough in pushing back against the overreach from the federal government.
“This job is not just a legal job, it’s a political job,” Labrador stated in one debate. “I would just be a lot more aggressive.”
In the wake of his win, Labrador stated in a release, “The people of Idaho have given me an opportunity to make sure that we have a strong conservative voice in the attorney general’s office, and I want to make sure that I make them proud.”