District judge blocks Idaho GOP from declaring Bingham County election void

A 7th Court District Judge on Tuesday morning blocked the Idaho Republican Party from holding a special meeting to elect a new chairperson of the Bingham County Republican Central Committee in an ongoing legal battle over the county committee’s elections.

The Bingham County GOP and its chairperson, Matt Thompson, sued in September to stop Idaho GOP Chairperson Dorothy Moon from holding a meeting to elect new members to the BCRCC executive committee after she claimed its election was void. The BCRCC is represented by Caldwell attorney and former state representative Greg Chaney.

The preliminary injunction will be in place until the BCRCC’s appeal with the Idaho Republican Party has run its full course, according to the court order.

The issue arose this past summer when the county party’s former chairperson, Dan Cravens, announced his intention to resign effect Aug. 1, the Idaho State Journal reported.

Cravens gave notice July 13 that there would be an election to fill his vacancy July 20. Thompson was elected as the new Bingham GOP chairperson, Jordan Johns was selected as first vice chairperson, and Ben Fuhriman as BCRCC state committeeman.

On July 27, the Idaho GOP received an unsigned grievance against the BCRCC, alleging the election violated party rules and bylaws. Moon sent letters to the Bingham County GOP alleging it didn’t follow party rules in electing its officers and said the election was void. She tried to call a special meeting to select new party officers.

The party said the election violated a number of rules, including one that prohibits elections to occur before the positions are vacant. The Bingham County GOP filed an appeal, which it argues should have stopped the planned Sept. 18 meeting to pick new officers.

Court documents show that after Thompson emailed Moon a copy of the BCRCC’s appeal of the meeting, she responded later, “Hello Matt, The meeting on September 18 is still scheduled. We will see you there. Thank you.”

The BCRCC sued to stop the special meeting, arguing Moon did not have the authority to declare the initial election void.

District Judge Darren Simpson on Sept. 15 granted the request to block a meeting scheduled for Sept. 18. Simpson heard oral arguments at a hearing on Sept. 28, the Idaho State Journal reported.

Moon told the court it had been her intention to respect the appeal and that she did not read the attached appeal in the email on Sept. 14.

Simpson wrote in the order that, despite Moon’s declared intentions, “the prior course of conduct by Chairwoman Moon underscores the BCRCC’s mistrust of Chairwoman Moon.”

The judge order said the BCRCC “has shown that it has a clear right to appeal Chairwoman Moon’s decision to void the BCRCC’s chairman election. The BCRCC has also shown that it will suffer irreparable harm if its appeal is ignored.”

The next step in the BCRCC’s appeal will take place at the Idaho GOP’s meeting in January, according to Chaney.

He said in an emailed statement of the judge’s decision, “I’m very appreciative that the Court saw through Moon’s attempt to rewrite history and rejected her assertion that she wouldn’t have gone through with the reorganization had she known about the appeal. It’s unfortunate we have to get the district court involved, but I’m grateful the Court granted the relief it did today.”

The Idaho GOP did not respond to a request for comment by press time.

Guido covers Idaho politics for the Lewiston Tribune, Moscow-Pullman Daily News and Idaho Press of Nampa. She may be contacted at lguido@idahopress.com and can be found on Twitter @EyeOnBoiseGuido.