This editorial first appeared in the Lewiston Tribune and was written by Tribune editorial editor Marty Trillhaase.
As Idaho prepares to certify the Open Primary Initiative for the Nov. 5 election ballot, consider the case of 10 Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives who voted — at great political risk — to impeach Donald Trump, a president of their own party, for inciting the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol.
The following year, four of the 10 opted not to seek reelection, citing an uphill political battle, safety concerns for their families or redistricting:
-- Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill.
-- Rep. Anthony Gonzalez, R- Ohio.
-- Rep. John Katko, R-N.Y.
-- Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich.
That left six who battled, often against the headwinds created by Trump, his supporters within the GOP establishment and the MAGA base:
-- Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo. In the Wyoming Republican primary election, Cheney — daughter of former Republican Vice President Dick Cheney and the one-time third-highest ranking member of the GOP House leadership — was crushed, carrying less than 29% of the vote against Trump-endorsed Harriet Hageman.
-- Rep. Tom Rice, R-S.C. His Trump-endorsed GOP opponent, state Rep. Russell Fry, trounced Rice by nearly 27 percentage points and nearly 22,600 votes.
-- Rep. Peter Meijer, R-Mich. He came closer to defeating his Trump-backed opponent, John Gibbs, falling behind by 3½ percentage points and almost 3,700 votes. In the fall, Gibbs lost the seat to Democrat Hillary Scholten.
-- Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Wash. Herrera Beutler lost in the primary and the Republican who defeated her, Trump supporter Joe Kent, went on to lose in November to Democrat Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, who flipped the congressional seat for her party.
That left two survivors:
-- Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash.
-- Rep. David Valadao, R-Calif.
The common denominator?
Both ran in states with a top-two primary.
Newhouse stayed alive in the primary with 25.5% and then went on to defeat Democrat Doug White in November with 66.5%.
A second-place finish in his state’s top-two primary was good enough to place Valadao on the November ballot, where he won reelection over Democratic challenger Rudy Salas by a narrow 51%.
And of the four Republicans who lost their primary elections, Herrea Beutler came the closest — losing to Kent by a half percentage point and fewer than 1,100 votes. At the very least, it’s left her politically viable enough to wage a comeback campaign for commissioner of public lands.
That’s not to say the top two primary system in Washington and California is a prescription for the kind of political courage Valadao, Herrera Beutler and Newhouse displayed those many months ago.
But it is to say that the closed Republican primary in Idaho guarantees such a move from a Gem State politician would be political suicide. Not only does that primary block any Democratic voter from crossing over, but voting in the Republican primary requires a public affiliation with the GOP — something thousands of Idaho voters are unwilling to do.
For a dozen years, that overt voter suppression has provided the acolytes of Idaho GOP Chairperson Dorothy Moon with undue influence over who gets their party’s nomination. Because Idaho is a one-party state, the general election is little more than a coronation of the GOP nominee.
Moon and her wing of the GOP despise the OPI for the very fact that it decapitates their control of the process. She does not want to muddy the waters with the voices of “Democrats, independents or even Socialists.”
If Idahoans approve OPI at the polls and it becomes law, any voter, regardless of affiliation, could cast a ballot in the open primary without publicly declaring allegiance to any party.
The candidates who score the top four positions in any race — regardless of party — would advance to the general election.
And in November, ranked-choice voting — a process used in Alaska as well as 47 cities including Seattle and Salt Lake City — would enable voters to select their first, second and third preferences. Candidates with the fewest votes would be eliminated until one with a majority emerges.
Such a system would finally give more independent Republicans — such as Congressman Mike Simpson or Gov. Brad Little — an even chance to survive the primary and then appeal to the broader, more ideologically diverse electorate that votes in November.
Does that mean Simpson — or any of his fellow Idaho GOP members of Congress — would have followed the path of Cheney in voting to impeach or Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, in voting to convict Trump if an OPI had been in place?
Probably not. It’s a rare Republican who demonstrates the kind of courage it takes to challenge Trump. Still, if a top two primary gave politicians in Washington and California enough cover to at least try, the message to Idaho is clear:
-- How many times has an elected official in Idaho deterred from following his conscience — and his understanding of what the broad cross section of his constituents want — for fear of getting primaried by the small but devout ultra right that dominates the GOP closed primary?
-- How many times have voters in the Gem State — indeed, voters everywhere — complained about political gridlock and polarization? If Idahoans take a first step toward empowering the broad swath of voters who want solutions, not bombast and distraction, from their government, perhaps they could encourage others across the country to take the same kind of step. — M.T.
