GOP division: Luna, Clark take issue with Moon

The current and former leadership of the Idaho GOP are in a public disagreement over the direction of the state’s party. In response to recent actions, the former leaders have formed a group to “unite the Republican Party.”

Former party chairpersons Tom Luna and Trent Clark issued a news release Wednesday calling for a “course correction” and argued that the party’s recent actions were causing “growing discontent” among Republican voters in the state.

“Failure to act now will force a statewide campaign to replace current leadership,” the release said.

They cited Idaho GOP Chairperson Dorothy Moon’s support of a presidential primary caucus and new party rules on “platform compliance” and membership dues.

The party responded in a news release posted to social media Wednesday night saying the “course correction that Idaho Republicans demanded within the Idaho Republican Party was made in July of 2022, when the grassroots supported and elected new leadership that committed to follow the rules, adhere to the Republican platform and honor the Idaho and U.S. Constitutions.”

Moon unseated Luna in a 434-287 vote during the summer 2022 delegate elections, and all of the previous GOP executive committee members also lost their seats, the Idaho Capital Sun reported.

THE PRIMARY

Luna and Clark said their largest contention with Moon’s leadership was her support of a caucus instead of supporting the reinstatement of Idaho’s Republican primary. In 2023, the Legislature passed a bill to move the state’s presidential primary to May, but the bill inadvertently eliminated the state’s primary altogether. A trailer bill that would have fixed the primary issue passed the Senate and died in a House committee.

Members of the Legislature came up with competing proposals to reinstate the primary, one would have kept it in March and the other put it in May, but lawmakers couldn’t get enough support for one proposal to call themselves back into session.

Moon and other party officials were in vocal opposition to the bill moving the primary to May. She wrote to leadership and Republican legislators urging them to oppose the move, public records show.

The Idaho GOP voted at its summer meeting to hold a caucus if the Legislature didn’t reinstate a March primary.

Luna and Clark, under the newly formed group Gem State Conservatives, have serious concerns about the caucus, which requires in-person participation and can typically have much lower turnout. In a statement from Gem State Conservatives, a spokesperson said in an email, “Moon was preoccupied with the preference primary and completely neglected the structural problem with the appointment of delegates. Had she put the appointment of delegates as her highest priority, it is likely she would’ve found common ground with the legislature, including a solution to the preference primary issue.”

In the party’s response, members highlighted that the removal of the primary was not its decision and it established the caucus in accordance with the Republican National Committee deadline for a presidential nomination.

“In response to this disenfranchisement, we have established a Presidential Caucus as a means to provide an alternative avenue for voters to participate in the selection of the presidential candidate,” they wrote. “This decision was made with the objective of ensuring that every qualified Republican voter has the opportunity to express their preference at the Idaho Republican Caucus.”

PLATFORM COMPLIANCE

The former party leaders also expressed concern over the GOP’s recent “platform enforcement.”

During the summer meeting, party officials approved a rule that empowered the state central committee, legislative district committees and county central committees to call into question Republican elected officials and determine if “substantive violations of Party Platform or Constitutions have occurred.” Those who are censured twice may be barred from running as a Republican for five years.

A spokesperson for Gem State Conservatives said there are “many problems” with this new rule.

“Republicans are nominated in May, platforms are decided in June,” the spokesperson said. “How can you run as a Republican not knowing what the platform will be one month later? On average to be nominated as a Republican, you must win the votes of over 9,000 voters. Can a few dozen second-guess the choices of thousands?”

On Tuesday, the Idaho GOP Legislative District 32 Committee conducted a Platform Enforcement Hearing evaluating how some eastern Idaho legislators voted, the Idaho Falls Post Register reported.

A special investigative committee provided a report reviewing their voting records and recommended Rep. Stephanie Mickelson be censured because her record “demonstrates a gravitation toward the Democrat Party…” It also recommended a censure of Sen. Kevin Cook for his vote not to override Gov. Brad Little’s veto of a bill that would have put a civil penalty on libraries for making “harmful materials” available to minors. The full committee hasn’t made a decision on the recommendations.

In August, the Latah County Republicans censured Lori McCann for five of her votes, including the library bill, the Lewiston Tribune reported.

Luna and Clark argued that these compliance enforcement hearings, along with other changes, such as central committees “abandoning neutrality” in primaries and new rules about membership dues payment, indicate “growing elitism within party ranks.”

“We have veered significantly from the inclusive big tent party envisioned by Ronald Reagan,” the news release said. “Chairwoman Moon’s party has instead become synonymous with purges, division, and expulsions.”

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.