3 of the 4 known anti-2nd Amendment candidates who were running in the Republican Primaries yesterday (May 17th) lost their election battles. Only one candidate managed to make it through. These are the 4 races the ISAA worked in to educate voters on where these candidates stood on the 2nd Amendment.

Early in the evening Rep. Maxine Bell (R-25) won her re-election bid by defeating challenger Reggy Sternes. Rep. Bell has voted against Campus Carry, Permitless Carry, and returned the ISAA survey with more anti-2nd Amendment answers. She will continue to represent the Jerome, Filer, Buhl, Kimberly, and parts of Twin Falls area for 2 more years. Mr. Sternes had answered our survey with 100% pro-2nd Amendment answers.

Several hours later Rep. Rich Wills (R-23) lost his re-election bid to challenger Christy Zito. Rep. Wills was one of 4 Republicans to vote against Constitutional Carry in the 2016 session. He trailed the entire evening to Ms. Zito and eventually lost. Ms. Zito has answered the ISAA survey with 100% pro-2nd Amendment answers while Rep. Wills failed to return his survey.

Several hours later Rep. Paul Romrell (R-35) lost his re-election bid in a very tight race with challenger Karey Hanks. The two traded leads back and forth all evening before Mrs. Hanks finally took the lead for good and eventually the seat. Mrs. Hanks answered the ISAA survey with 100% pro-2nd Amendment answers while Rep. Romrell indicated in his survey he would consider banning semi-auto firearms and high capacity magazines.

In the final race that the ISAA educated voters in, Carl Berglund and Bill Goesling were both vying for a chance to take on Paulette Jordan (D-5) in the general election in November. Mr. Goesling as a State Board of Education member voted against Campus Carry and tried to sway the legislators to do the same. Mr. Berglund answered the ISAA survey with 100% pro-2nd Amendment answers while Mr. Goesling failed to return his survey. Mr. Berglund won the race with will face a tough battle in November.

Overall it appears that Idaho voters across the state rejected candidates who have voted against gun rights or have made statements or taken stances against gun rights.

Thanks to all of you who helped during the election season and for all those who went and voted. In one race a mere 28 votes made all the difference. It doesn’t take much in a primary to sway an election. Your vote really does matter in these local and state elections.