Dems in disguise

Daily Digest 5/13/26

With less than a week until the May primary, it’s up to voters to decide who will be the Republican standard-bearers heading into November. Yet some of those Republican candidates have few—if any—conservative beliefs. Sen. Jim Guthrie has raised six figures from machine politicians despite voting against tax cuts, voting against keeping boys out of the girls’ restroom, voting against school choice, and voting against medical freedom. Will the voters in LD28 wise up?

It’s even worse up north. Christa Hazel, who proudly told anyone with a microphone in 2020 that she was voting for Joe Biden, is running against fiscal conservative stalwart Rep. Elaine Price in LD4. Rep. Heather Scott explains:

Democrats know they cannot win any general elections in most parts of Idaho, especially North Idaho, if they have a “D” behind their name. So instead of running openly as Democrats, many are now re-registered as Republicans and attempting to blend in as “conservative” voters and candidates in order to deceive Idahoans. Their goal is to pretend to be something they are not, in order to fool voters with fake conservative campaigns, websites and mailers.

On a similar vein, Brian Parsons explains how consensus is often used as a substitute for principles:

The problem with using “Common Sense” as an electable quality is that common sense is rarely common and often nonsense. The subjective nature of common sense says that it can mean whatever you need it to mean. There is no declaration of shared ideals. It is merely a “trust me, bro” variety of statement. “If you put me in office, you can be assured that I will make the correct vote according to my inherent rightness.”

All of that ties in to what Idaho GOP chairwoman Dorothy Moon wrote last week:

Listen carefully to the words candidates use. Do they sound like Republicans, or Democrats? Do they sound like people you’d meet on a Magic Valley farm, a North Idaho construction site, or in a diner in Salmon, Challis, or Preston? Or do they sound more like the editorial board of a Boise newspaper?

Election Day is next Tuesday. Vote, and vote wisely.

Finally, don’t miss this press release from the America 250 in Idaho Ambassadors announcing a quarter drive to bring the Liberty Bell to all 44 counties before returning to the Capitol. (Do we still use quarters these days?)

As challenging as it gets here in Idaho, I’m thankful that we are not California. America’s second-largest city will soon choose its next leader, following years of fiscal mismanagement, DEI nonsense, corruption, and incredible incompetence that allowed a fire to destroy ten thousand beautiful homes. A former reality TV star might be the city’s salvation, as Rufo & Lomez explain:

As usual, stay tuned for more. Remember to make a plan to vote, whether by mail, early, or on Election Day on May 19. Early voting is going on most everywhere now, and ends this Friday.

Thanks as always to sponsors Lynn Bradescu’s Boise Realty, Money Metals, and the iLuvIdaho Voter Guide. Please reach out if you have a small business and want to partner with the Gem State Chronicle.