Ammon Bundy, Rep. Priscilla Giddings to run for Idaho’s top offices

Ammon Bundy, the anti-government activist who is barred from the Idaho Capitol grounds and building, has filed to run for governor, according to the Idaho Secretary of State’s website.

Another filing of note Friday was that of Rep. Priscilla Giddings, a White Bird Republican who signaled her intention to run for lieutenant governor.

Bundy, 45, of Emmett, is listed as a Republican on his filing. Current Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin, a fellow Republican, announced her intention to run for governor Wednesday, while the current governor, Brad Little, hasn’t said if he will seek reelection.

Bundy was arrested twice last month in two hours on misdemeanor trespassing charges at the Statehouse building. That came after a special Legislative session in August, during which Bundy and others refused to move out of reserved press corps seats, which resulted in Bundy being barred from the Capitol grounds for one year and prohibited from coming to the public areas of the building.

Bundy protested mask mandates and other measures during the coronavirus pandemic. He also supported an unsuccessful effort to recall Little after the governor issued a stay-at-home order last year.

Bundy was involved in a 2016 armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon that left one of his cohorts dead.

Several people have also filed the pre-candidacy paperwork for the governorship, which allows them to begin fundraising. Five other candidates have appointed campaign treasurers for governor, including Little; Lisa Marie, of Eagle; Cody Usabel, of Meridian; Jeff Cotton, of Boise; McGeachin, of Idaho Falls; and Edward Humphreys, of Eagle. A seventh candidate has appointed a treasurer, John Dionne, of Boise, but he is unaffiliated.

Giddings, who was first elected to the Idaho House in 2016, said in her news release that she would be “a champion for limited government, a fighter for our Second Amendment rights, a tireless advocate for the unborn” as lieutenant governor.

Giddings announced her candidacy after McGeachin signaled she wouldn’t run for reelection in favor of taking a shot at the governorship.

Giddings was in the Air Force for nine years and remains a major in the Air Force Reserve. She accumulated nearly 1,000 combat flight hours and nine air medals through three combat deployments, according to her news release.

Giddings was recently criticized for sharing on social media the name, photo and identifying information of a 19-year-old legislative intern who accused former Rep Aaron von Ehlinger, R-Lewiston, of rape. Giddings also disparagingly referred to the woman as a “honey trap” in the newsletter.

Also in the lieutenant governor race is Luke Malek, a Coeur d’Alene Republican who was previously in the Idaho House.

The Republican primary will be held in May 2022.