A protracted deliberation opened up passionate discussion, exposed political divisions and ultimately delivered three names to replace former Rep. John Green of Rathdrum.

Legislative District 2 precinct committee members debated long into Tuesday night before voting to nominate Tim Kastning, Don Bradway and Tim Remington to Gov. Brad Little’s office. Little will choose one of those nominees to replace Green, who was expelled from the Idaho Legislature last week shortly after his conviction in federal court for conspiring to defraud the United States.

A standing-room-only crowd of interested citizens watched for nearly three hours as LD2 members from the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee maneuvered through one another’s loyalties and preferences in an unusual meeting held under unusual circumstances.

“It’s not something I’d want to do on a regular basis,” Legislative District chair Mike Towan said, “but I think we executed our duties well. There was some spirited discussion during the evening, but I wouldn’t classify it as contentious.”

In weighted ballots, Kastning led the night in points of support, followed by Bradway and Remington. Other nominees who did not make the final list of three included Ramona Grissom, Doug Okuniewicz and Luke Sommer.

Kastning, who established and owned Grace Tree Service before selling the company in 2015, previously worked on Congressman Russ Fulcher’s staff in Coeur d’Alene. He had already announced his intention to run for Green’s seat before the now-convicted lawmaker said he would not run for re-election but instead focus on his running for Kootenai County sheriff.

Green had Kastning fill in for him in Boise while Green was on trial in Texas.

Bradway is a retiree from California and a former first responder. He gained national attention in 2016 as the leadoff interview in a Washington Post piece on the American Redoubt movement.

Remington is a pastor at the Altar Church. His name made national news in March 2016 when gunman Kyle Odom shot Remington six times in the church parking lot before hopping a flight to Washington, D.C. Odom was then arrested two days later while throwing flash drives from the Pennsylvania Avenue sidewalk onto the White House lawn.

Political jostling was manifest both within the precinct committee ranks and among the packed audience. Longtime Republican activist Larry Spencer attended the meeting and reportedly posted on Facebook who the winners would be during the nomination process.

“It’s not so bad that they rigged the vote and ran the table,” Spencer said. “They had the numbers and it was their prerogative to do it. What bothers me is that they pretended they weren’t.”

It’s a characterization Towan said he wasn’t surprised to hear.

“I believe the process was fair,” Towan said Wednesday. “There were motions to amend the voting rules, et cetera. The committee voted on them, and not all were accepted. I am sure there is a portion of the people who would disagree on the fairness, but that is to be expected. I thought that given the short amount of time we had to plan, cross t’s, dot i’s, et cetera, the process went smoothly.”

The governor has 15 days to decide which of the three nominees will fill Green’s seat. If Little fails to appoint a nominee in that timeframe, LD2 precinct representatives will reconvene to select Green’s replacement for the remainder of the year.