'Idaho is becoming redder'

COEUR d’ALENE — If you’re worried about Idaho becoming too blue, don’t.

“This is a red state,” said Secretary of State Phil McGrane. “No matter what you heard from someplace else, this is a Republican state, and I’m sorry for the Democrats in the room.”

“Idaho is becoming redder. It’s just a fact,” he said.

In a 30-minute speech to about 100 Coeur d’Alene Rotarians at The Coeur d’Alene Resort on Friday, McGrane offered voter registration numbers to back up his statement.

He said that between 2004 and 2023, 118,639 voters from 49 states moved to Idaho. Of those, 77,089, 65%, registered as Republicans, while just 14,707, 12%, registered as Democrats, and 24,896, 21%, were unaffiliated. 

“I’m not surprised to see Republicans are moving to Idaho," McCrane said. “I will say, I was shocked to see just how prevalent it was.”

The only state with more Democrats leaving and heading for Idaho was Vermont.

“That is because one more Democrat than Republican moved to Idaho,” McCrane said as the crowd laughed.

Idaho has a little more than one million registered voters. The majority, 583,961, or 59%, are Republicans. Only 125,503, or 13%, are Democrats, while 275,329, 28%, are unaffiliated, according to McGrane's charts and graphs.

It’s been even more of a red wave of those moving to Kootenai County, with 71% registering as Republicans.

McGrane said when looking at Californians coming to Idaho, 29,510 registered as Republicans, while 3,940 registered as Democrats.

“Yes, it’s true," McCrane said. “The majority of people moving to Idaho are from California by leaps and bounds. Almost three times as many as any other location."

It was much the same with new arrivals to Idaho from Washington state and Oregon, with more than 60% registering as Republicans.

“Washington is not exactly a ruby red state, but the people moving here are,” McCrane said.

He said people are “self-sorting” and moving to states that coincide with their political views, even if it means selling their homes and leaving behind where they grew up.

He said these “political refugees” have reached a point where they no longer recognize their hometown, are fed up and move on.

“We see that in our politics in this state,” McCrane said. “People are frustrated. One of the challenges is often when they get to Idaho, they stay frustrated, and that’s not helping anybody.”

He reminded the crowd that the primary election is coming up May 21 and the first absentee ballots were mailed out Friday.

He said in a state like Idaho, whether you live in blue Boise or red Kootenai County, the primary election is really where the decisions are made.

"The elections will likely be determined in this primary,” he said. “There are very few battlegrounds in our state.”

He urged people to be informed and visit voteidaho.gov.

“So often, people just don’t know what they're voting for,” he said.

But they should.

“There are so many local races that matter in these elections and you can have such an impact,” McGrane said.

Despite the country’s political divide as the presidential election heats up, McCrane expressed confidence in America.

He held up a small book, which he said was his pocket copy of the United States Constitution and one of his most prized possessions.

“What makes this special,” he said, then pausing as his voice broke. “It was handwritten by my father.”

“So when you think about our country, think about what we’re going through, this truly is divinely inspired. It has brought us through so very much,” McCrane said.

“No matter how tense things get, it’s an important reminder that America is an experiment. And we’ve been through a lot together. It feels very tense these days. But if you’ll recall, we’ve taken arms against each other before.”

He said that in the '60s, some of the country’s greatest leaders were assassinated. Yet, America recovered.

“We’ve been through worse and we’ve been very successful," McGrane said. "I have faith in us as a country and the promise that America brings.”