COEUR d’ALENE — Gov. Brad Little said Thursday he is confident he will be reelected as Idaho’s governor.

“We’ll know more in about 12 days,” he said, smiling.

The more that come out to vote in the primary on May 17, the better he’ll feel.

“What's important to me is we got to have a good turnout. If we have low turnout, all kinds of surprising things could happen,” he said.

Little, a Republican, chatted briefly with The Press as he walked toward his car for a trip from Coeur d’Alene to Kellogg following a press conference.

“We got great support all over the state from one end to the other,” he said. “I've got a great team. We’re getting our message out, we believe.”

The 68-year-old said his campaign message includes reminding voters that when he ran for office and won in 2018, he said he wanted to create an atmosphere that would make kids want to stay in Idaho.

“We’re getting that done,” he said.

Little points to the state's economy and says it's thriving thanks to his efforts to reduce regulations.

“I don't think anybody forecast the growth we have today. We’ve got more jobs, better jobs, we recovered faster from the pandemic than any of the other states. And there's just a lot of good things going on. And now going forward, it's what do we do collectively as a state to work with communities to cope with the growth.”

Little faces seven opponents in the primary, with his main competition expected to come from Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin. Also running are Steven Bradshaw, Ben Cannady, Ed Humphreys, Ashley Jackson, Lisa Marie and Cody Usabel.

Asked for his opinions on his challengers, the governor said: “I got a whole bunch of them. We don't have time for me to comment on all of them.

“I believe we've got a great message and that's what we need to focus on is getting our message out and not be worried about our opponents."

In the days ahead, Little plans to keep urging Idahoans to vote.

“I'm always nervous if people don't show up," he said. "So we're trying to do all we can to increase turnout.”