The good news is that Regan lost his race for precinct committeeman and there is a possibility that the traditional, reasonable North Idaho Republicans will take over the official GOP central committee. This could be a turnabout from the notoriously extreme GOP machine in the County. Regan’s allies lost the Bonneville County GOP committee in the 2024 primary. The MAGA crowd will lose their grip on other counties in 2028.
There was not much change in the election results between GOP extremists and traditional Republicans in the western side of the state from Moscow to the Treasure Valley. However, the extremists lost big in the Magic Valley. Senators Glenneda Zuiderveld and Josh Kohl, two of the most extreme legislators, lost by large margins. The reasonable Republicans on the Eastern side of the state easily shrugged off challenges from culture warriors.
The atmosphere for Idaho’s GOP extremists will become more troubled with each passing week as voters become increasingly aware of the consequences of the mindless budget cutting that extremists committed against important state programs. The fallout from national MAGA policies, including tariffs, the Iran War, inflation, and the pervasive grift, will erode away the support for extremists everywhere. The farm community will be ready for a change because of rising prices for fertilizer, diesel, machinery and about everything else necessary for making a living on the farm–all a result of blundering MAGA policies.
Governor Little is headed into troubled waters in November. His full-throated embrace of the MAGA program has turned off reasonable voters and failed to gain support from the extremists. He only received 59% of the vote in the primary. He has two viable challengers in the general election–John Stegner, who is running as an Independent, and Terri Pickens on the Democratic ticket. If both are on the ticket in November, Little will get a third term. If the one with the least support withdraws in a timely fashion, Idaho can have a more reasonable Governor.
Todd Achilles is likely to win his Independent campaign against our octogenarian Senator Jim Risch. The Senator is too self-entitled to hold public town halls with the common people. He has meekly surrendered the Constitutional power of Congress to set budgets and wage war. He claims credit for things he has opposed. Risch was front and center to bask in the glory of Micron’s $15 billion groundbreaking even though he voted against the CHIPS bill that made it possible. On the other hand, Achilles is a regular guy, a military veteran and a successful businessman. As an Independent, he’ll be able to work with both sides of the aisle to get things done for Idaho.
Lori Hickman is an accomplished lawyer, who will stand up for the rule of law as Idaho’s Attorney General. The current Attorney General gives priority to his extreme politics.
Raul Labrador endorsed a number of his culture war soulmates in the primary, including five losers–Senators Zuiderveld and Kohl, Rep. David Leavitt, and challengers running against Senators Jim Guthrie and Ben Fuhriman. His political instincts are as faulty as his lawyering. Hickman has pledged to keep politics out of the office and treat it like a real law office–giving honest, straight-forward legal advice and assistance that complies with the Constitution and laws of Idaho.
An issue that favors both Achilles and Hickman is the sale of federal lands to private interests. Both Risch and Labrador are vulnerable on the issue. Risch voted against a 2025 Senate budget amendment that would have explicitly prohibited the sale or transfer of public lands to offset the federal deficit. When it appeared this year that sale of those lands was a hot button issue in Idaho, he tried desperately to backtrack. Yet, he voted to confirm a land sale proponent as director of the Bureau of Land Management. Achilles has strongly opposed any form of disposition of public lands. Likewise, Hickman advocates keeping “public lands in public hands.” That sharply contrasts with Labrador’s efforts to force the transfer of Idaho’s federal lands to the state for disposal. He even joined a Utah suit in the US Supreme Court to accomplish that goal. The suit was dismissed but it may come back to haunt him.
I suspect the GOP MAGA warriors will become increasingly alarmed by the electoral landscape as November approaches. By then, it will be too late to backtrack on their extremist agendas. They won’t be missed.
Reading the tea leaves of GOP primary elections in Idaho and across the country should give far-right MAGA warriors the heebie-jeebies. It is a near certainty that Donald Trump’s MAGA puppets will lose the US House and quite likely the Senate. While Idaho’s primary results were slightly in favor of the State’s traditional, problem-solving Republicans, the outcome will be decidedly in their favor by November. The 2027 Legislature will have a more moderate mix of Republicans and Democrats than in 2026. There will likely be surprises in some statewide races–Governor, US Senate and Attorney General.