I took the weekend almost completely off, spending much of it on a camping trip with one of my sons and some of his classmates. It was great to step away from the world of politics and the internet for a few hours and enjoy nature and fellowship. We did some fishing, some shooting, and woke up to see the sun rise over the river. We had a great time!
As I knocked off other items on my to-do list this morning, I wasn’t sure what I should write about today, then I started hearing about these text messages purporting to support Sen. Jim Risch against Todd Achilles, but which were obviously meant to drive voters away from Risch. To me it seems like the Achilles campaign is desperately throwing anything into the mix to see what sticks as we approach Election Day. I don’t know if the messages were conceived by anyone in the Achilles campaign, but it wouldn’t surprise me, considering some of the other cheap tricks that have been played during this election cycle.
Todd Achilles’ Increasingly Desperate Campaign
On Monday morning, Republicans throughout Idaho received a text message purporting to be from a “Democratic Socialist” endorsing Sen. Jim Risch and claiming he would “advance a national socialist agenda.”
The message did not disclose who paid for it, and I reached out to a member of the Risch team who said they had no clue who sent it. I posted on X that I wouldn’t be surprised if the idea originated somewhere in the vicinity of the Todd Achilles campaign. Even the Boise DSA page on Facebook disavowed the message, calling it “alarming”:
It wouldn’t be the first time that Achilles supporters engaged in a little bit of astroturfing. A few weeks ago, during an interview with Nate Shelman on KBOI radio, a caller identifying himself as “Bob in Eagle” began asking a question, but Shelman recognized him as Matthew Hebb of Unbridled Strategies, which is doing paid work for the Achilles campaign:
Hebb is a political journeyman who came to Idaho a few years ago and briefly served as an Ada County GOP precinct committeeman. He was also a delegate to the Idaho GOP State Convention earlier this year.
Todd Achilles has desperately tried to reinvent himself, working to change his spots from a left-wing Democratic state legislator to an independent (even “conservative”) candidate for Senate. Yet he can’t escape his own record.
Beyond trying to convince voters that the former House Democratic caucus chair is now a principled independent who disagrees with Democrats as much as Republicans, Achilles has been trying to attract attention any way he can. He approached Sen. Risch at a 9/11 memorial event last month while one of his people recorded the encounter on a phone, apparently hoping to instigate some sort of confrontation to drive engagement on social media. When Risch simply shook his hand and moved on, Achilles posted the video anyway, casting the incident as Risch “running away” from him.
The truth is, contrary to the astroturf text message, that Todd Achilles is the closest thing Idaho has to a Democratic socialist. Less than two years ago, Achilles stood alongside Sen. Bernie Sanders and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez at a rally in Nampa that was heavily promoted by Idaho Democrats.
Achilles’ choice of staffers is also revealing. His communications director is Crispin Gravatt, who performs as a drag queen under the name Penelope Windsor. Gravatt serves on the City of Boise’s Public Works Commission and previously spent eight years working for the Idaho STEM Action Center. He has also spoken publicly about his efforts to “expand resources to the LGBTQ+ community.” I wouldn’t be surprised to see a Democrat hire a drag queen as comms director, but it’s certainly at odds with the image Achilles is trying to present to unaffiliated voters and disaffected Republicans.
Dirty tricks won’t help Todd Achilles win this race, and neither will one more text message pretending to be conservative. Republican voters in the Treasure Valley know Todd and are well aware of his past positions and associations.
If you really think Achilles has a shot, you can make a fortune on the betting markets. I don’t know if Todd himself has sampled his own Flavor Aid, or if he’s knowingly laying the groundwork for a future campaign. Idaho is expected to gain a third congressional district in 2032, and local Democrats are surely hoping it will be more competitive than our current districts. How soon after he loses on November 3 will Achilles once again register as a Democrat and seek another office to stay relevant in the years to come?
High-profile political campaigns have always featured dirty tricks and mudslinging, so none of this is surprising. I expect Idaho voters to tune out the noise and reelect Sen. Risch by a large margin.
In the meantime, early voting is underway in nearly every Idaho county. Check out this page I put together for the Idaho GOP with early voting information for each county. Make sure to vote this year. It’s important not only to defeat Prop 1 and protect life in Idaho, but also to send a message to Todd Achilles and the people around him that dirty tricks are no substitute for a real conservative record.
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