Summer Meeting Recap
Putting the "party" in Idaho Republican Party
The 2025 Idaho GOP Summer Meeting has come and gone. Republicans from all over the Gem State gathered in Pocatello to deliberate over proposed rule changes and party resolutions. Beyond party business, these meetings are also a great opportunity to bring many like-minded people together in one room.
The Idaho GOP State Central Committee (SCC) is made up of the chairs of all 35 legislative district committees, the chairs of all 44 county committees, as well as each county’s state committeeman, committeewoman, and committee youth person. That makes 211 delegates, but there are a few more.
The Idaho GOP officers—elected by delegates to conventions held in even-numbered years—are members of the SCC and also sit on the executive board. Those positions are:
Chairwoman Dorothy Moon
1st Vice Chairman Mark Fuller
2nd Vice Chairwoman Viki Purdy
Treasurer Steve Bender
Secretary Maria Nate
National Committeeman Bryan Smith
National Committeewoman Vicki Keen
The chair, national committeeman, and national committeewoman represent the Idaho GOP as three of the 168 members of the Republican National Committee.
The party divides the state into ten regions, and SCC members from each region come together to elect a region chair, who sits on the Idaho GOP executive board and appoints members to the Rules and Resolutions Committees. So that’s ten more:
Region I Chair: Scott Herndon
Region II Chair: Bjorn Handeen
Region III Chair: Nick Woods
Region IV Chair: Machele Hamilton
Region V Chair: Mark Johnson
Region VI Chair: Jean Mollenkopf-Moore
Region VII Chair: Mike Mathews
Region VIII Chair: Trent Clark
Region IX Chair: Steve Pinther
Region X Chair: Andrew Mickelsen
Herndon and Mollenkopf-Moore also serve as county chairs but cast only one vote each as SCC members. There are also several ex officio non-voting members of the executive board, such as the presidents of affiliated organizations like the Idaho Young Republicans.
I want to express my appreciation for the elected officials who took part in the meeting. Several legislators also serve as precinct committeemen, committee chairs, or state committeemen or women. Others simply came as guests to meet with fellow Republicans. The neat thing about coming together as a party is that everyone is on equal footing. A legislator who is also an SCC delegate has the same standing as those of us who hold no public office. It felt very American.
As chairman of the District 14 Republican Central Committee, I was part of the SCC general session. I do not sit on either the Rules or Resolutions Committee.
For a proposal to be heard by one of those committees, it must first be passed by a district, county, or region committee. It is then carried by a member of the SCC and presented to the germane committee on Friday night. A proposed rule seeks to alter the Idaho GOP Rules in some fashion, while a resolution calls upon the party to do something or take a certain position.
Both committees debated several dozen proposals over the course of five hours on Friday, whittling them down to a more manageable number. For example, the Rules Committee voted down a proposal to disallow registered lobbyists from serving as party officers. Members questioned a clause in the proposal that would include precinct committeemen in this prohibition, since that position is defined in state law.
There were three proposals dealing with the number of delegates to next year’s state convention. Each legislative district and county starts with three delegates, but counties get bonus delegates based on how many Republican voters turned out in the last general election. Because Idaho’s population continues to grow, the number of delegates has increased as well. Under the existing rule, more than 800 delegates—plus an equal number of alternates, not to mention countless guests—would attend the 2026 State Convention. While I generally believe the more the merrier, it would make finding an appropriate venue more difficult.
One proposal would change the math to allow just under 400 delegates for next year’s convention, while another would increase the base number of delegates per county to five but reduce the allocation based on voter turnout. In the end, the committee selected a rule that modifies the formula to allow for about 635 delegates going forward.
Speaking of the convention, Ada County GOP Chairman Thad Butterworth proposed holding it here in Ada County next year. No other county submitted a bid, and the SCC approved the motion by acclamation. The 2026 Idaho GOP State Convention will be right here in the Treasure Valley. Boise was slated to host the 2020 convention, but the city prohibited large gatherings due to COVID-19 concerns, so it was moved to the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa. That was my first Idaho state convention—it seems like a lifetime ago.
The debate in the Resolutions Committee was less consequential, since resolutions are merely statements by the party. However, it was no less spirited. A resolution calling for legislation to restore the March presidential primary by 2028 passed committee but was amended on the floor to remove a clause disallowing the party from holding another caucus if that restoration does not occur. A resolution calling for a ballot initiative to eliminate sales taxes on groceries provoked sharp debate on the floor, with several delegates condemning such taxes as immoral.
My own resolution, 2025-44, called for stronger enforcement of immigration laws. A clause requesting legislation for mandatory E-Verify was struck in committee. I moved to add it back on the floor, but the SCC voted that amendment down. The rest of the resolution passed, however. I’ll have more to write about this issue later in the year.
Another resolution that drew spirited debate was 2025-52, presented by Chris Trakel of Canyon County. The resolution reasoned that since the Idaho GOP is a private organization, it must have the authority to enforce certain stipulations regarding membership—and one of those is ideological. If someone registers as a Republican candidate for office but doesn’t hold to any Republican principles, should the party be expected to blindly support this person? If Lauren McLean registered as a Republican and entered a statewide campaign, would the party be bound to support her?
All sides seek to police who can call themselves Republicans. Several central committees have censured their elected representatives for allegedly voting against the Idaho GOP Platform. Such representatives decry what they call “witch hunts” and “purity tests,” yet it was former state chairman Tom Luna who declared that Ammon Bundy was not welcome in the party when he filed to run for governor in 2021.
The resolution failed on the floor, but the debate over how far the party should go in enforcing adherence to Republican and conservative principles will surely continue.
The full list of adopted rules and resolutions will be posted shortly on the Idaho GOP website. I’ve recently begun doing some communications work for the state party, so I’ll be the one to upload them as soon as they’re available.
In addition to party business, SCC delegates and guests heard from Sen. Jim Risch in the morning and Attorney General Raúl Labrador during lunch. Risch shared an update on the Senate, the One Big Beautiful Bill, and the rest of President Trump’s agenda. Labrador highlighted the work of the Office of the Attorney General and urged unity among Republicans.
I had a few minutes to sit down with Risch for a short conversation that you can watch here:
My wife accompanied me to the meeting as a guest, and we took a leisurely trip home via Mackay, Salmon, and Challis. Idaho is a lovely state, and I am looking forward to getting to know it better over the next few years.
Great coverage