Trump wins local, state Republican caucuses

As in the rest of Idaho, former President Donald J. Trump won local caucuses in North Idaho as Republicans headed to the polls to nominate the state presidential candidate.

In Bonner County, Trump received 1,883 of the votes, roughly 91.3%, cast in Bonner County's caucus, while former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley received 152 votes, or 7.3%. Also receiving votes were former candidates whose names still appeared on Idaho caucus ballots. Of those, Ryan Binkley received two votes; Chris Christie, two votes; Ron DeSantis, 19 votes; and Vivek Ramaswamy, four votes. It is unclear how many of the state's registered Republicans voted Saturday.

In Boundary County, Trump received the most votes with 462, or 90.8%, and Nikki Haley received 39, or 7.7%.

Also receiving votes were DeSantis with three votes, Ramaswamy with three votes, and Binkley with one vote. One ballot did not contain a vote, with a total of 509 votes cast. DeSantis, Ramaswamy, Binkley, and Christie have all suspended their campaigns.

In Kootenai County, Trump had garnered more than 3,900 votes at press time, nearly 91% of the county’s total. Nikki Haley received 330 votes countywide. Also receiving votes were DeSantis, who had received 51 votes at press time, while Vivek Ramswamy earned five votes, Ryan Blinkley got four votes, and Chris Christie received votes.

About 6.5% of the county’s more than 66,000 Republican voters turned out for the caucuses.

Despite it being many people's first experience with a caucus, Bonner County Republican Central Committee Chair Scott Herndon said it went relatively smoothly. However, a handful were unaware they needed to be in line by 11 a.m., or that voting would only take place for a 90-minute period.

"I'm sure there were a few voters who expected it would be like a normal voting day where you can just show up [between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.]," Herndon said. "That, unfortunately, was not the case."

Two of those voters emailed local legislators and the media, expressing both frustration and disappointment, saying that while the start time of 11 a.m. was clear, the ending time was not.

"We arrived at 2 p.m.," Mark Watson and Rebecca Revak wrote in an email. "We had to bang on the doors, and finally, a person identified as a local Republican committee person informed us they had stopped all voting at 1 p.m. and were counting the ballots then, and there was to be no more voting today.

We are flabbergasted and disgusted. General election voting is usually 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. While we were questioning the person, six other people arrived and were also turned away."

The limited time to vote disenfranchised residents and took away their right to vote, the pair wrote in the email.

With more than 84% of the state's precincts reporting, Idaho Republican Party Chair Dorothy Moon announced that Trump had won all 32 delegates in the state.

According to ABC News, Trump received 85% of the vote statewide, with 31,885 votes, or an estimated 85% of the ballots counted as of press time. He was followed by Haley with 5,003 votes, or 13%; DeSantis received 510 votes, or 1%; Ramaswamy, 94 votes; Christie, 85 votes; and Binkley, 40 votes.

"Idaho has reaffirmed its steadfast support for President Trump today," Moon said in a press release. "We recognize that our state stands as a beacon of support for Republican ideals, reaffirming Idaho’s status as 'Trump Country' with his resounding victory in our caucus."

While the caucus was the state's first since 2012, Herndon said a bill making its way through the Idaho Legislature could move the state back into a primary election to vote for the party's presidential nominee.

The state's primaries were inadvertently removed entirely when  Idaho attempted to consolidate its primaries to the same May date. While the Legislature attempted to address the issue by holding a special session, party members could not agree on a proposal in time, leaving the state with a caucus as its only option. 

However, Herndon said a bill is expected to go before the Idaho Senate this week. Senate Bill 1371, which is on the state's third reading calendar, would move the state's primary election to the third Tuesday in April.

"I don't know why we're not voting on it, and I haven't heard of anyone who loves the idea," Herndon said, who also serves as the District 1 state senator. "So it's a very interesting choice for everybody."

Herdon, who is up for re-election, is running against the previous holder of the seat, Jim Woodward, in the May 21 primary election.

Herndon encouraged voters to weigh in with the local state senators to share their thoughts on moving the state's primary to April.

"Do they want voting in April, the presidential election and primary election?" Herndon said. "Or would they like to go back to the old way and keep it in May and put a presidential primary election back on the books?"