OPINION: Primary elections in Idaho and elsewhere give hope for better days ahead

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 two statewide races–US Senate and Attorney General. 

North Idaho was a problem for reasonable Republicans. Two excellent legislators in District 1, Sen. Jim Woodward and Rep. Mark Sauter, lost to MAGA warriors who waged extremely nasty campaigns. Rep. Elaine Price, an extremist legislator in District 4, turned away a spirited challenge by Christa Hazel, who was viciously attacked by the forces of Kootenai County GOP’s Brent Regan. Regan is Chair of the County GOP and also serves as Chair of the ill-named Idaho Freedom Foundation, which is about as enlightened as Genghis Khan’s war council. Hazel is a remarkable person who got 40.5% of the vote with a campaign based on real issues.  

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 and reasonable Republicans on the Eastern side of the state easily shrugged off challenges from culture warriors.  

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 and responsibility of Congress to set budgets and wage war. On the other hand, Achilles is a regular guy, a military veteran and a successful businessman. As an Independent, he’ll not be bogged down with the curse of party politics. 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 the 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.  

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.  

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Jim Jones is a Vietnam combat veteran who served 8 years as Idaho Attorney General (1983-1991) and 12 years as Justice of the Idaho Supreme Court (2005-2017). He also publishes at substack.com/@jjcommontater.