The 2022 primary election was one for the record books.
Due to redistricting in the state, we saw some incredible races during the 2022 primary election. Gun owners will be really excited about some of the results and a little frustrated by others.
Before we get to the election results, remember that the first piece of good news is that long-time anti-gun Senator Patti Anne Lodge retired.
Lodge had long been blocking solid pro-gun legislation as the Senate State Affairs Chairman. Additionally, she famously stole a Second Amendment Preservation Act bill from pro-gun champion Sen. Christy Zito last year.
Gun owners are in much better shape without Lodge blocking our legislation in the Senate, and we hope that the new chairman will actually fight for gun owners.
For a long time, the Idaho Senate has been a place where good bills go to die. However, that may have changed as a result of the 2022 election.
Rep. Tammy Nichols has changed to the Senate and crushed her opponent, Scott Brock, who has attacked the Idaho Second Amendment Alliance for years.
But it wasn’t just Nichols that took a Senate seat. The ISAA counts 12 other candidates who are also going to be in the Senate that we hope will be good votes for our legislation.
One of those candidates was Scott Herndon. Herndon, for those that don’t know him, is one of the plaintiffs in our lawsuit against the city of Sandpoint!
Herndon defeated one of the biggest RINOs in the Idaho Senate, Jim Woodward.
Another incredible victory was the defeat of Rep. Greg Chaney who was trying to change over to the Senate.
Chaney has been a critic of the ISAA for years and has attacked me personally for a long time. Chaney was taken down by a military veteran named Chris Trakel.
Another incredible victory for gun owners was Brian Lenney taking down RINO State Senator Jeff Agenbroad.
But it wasn’t just the Idaho Senate where gun owners got victories.
Perhaps one of the biggest victories of the night was current Attorney General Lawrence Wasden getting spanked by former Congressman Raul Labrador!
Wasden has been a thorn in the ISAA’s side for many years. Not only did Wasden’s office threaten the ISAA back in 2018, but their office has also been less than helpful on pro-gun legislation.
Wasden’s office often did everything it could to trash pro-gun legislation and only backed bills that were so watered down that they didn’t actually do anything.
Hopefully, with Labrador as AG will help defend gun owners and actually stand up to the Biden administration.
But it wasn’t all roses on election night.
Gun owners were devastated by the loss of Rep. Ron Nate who lost his race by just 36 votes.
Keep in mind that Nate’s opponent Britt Raybould, and all of the PACs that supported her, spent approximately $300,000 against Nate! I’ve never seen so much money spent to defeat a House member for an Idaho legislative race.
Nate’s opponent and the PACs who attacked him lied constantly, smeared his good name, and still only beat him by 36 votes.
Pro-gun Representative Chad Christensen also lost his re-election bid.
Christensen lost to a guy who we believe voted for Joe Biden, Josh Wheeler. Wheeler was a supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement and didn’t even seem to be shy about his support of Democrat ideals.
Yet Wheeler ran as a Republican, as most Democrats do who want to live in Idaho and won his race.
Another major loss for gun owners was Rep. Dorothy Moon coming up just 4,000 votes shy of victory in the Secretary of State’s race.
What the media won’t talk about in that race is the 20,000 DEMOCRATS who voted in the Republican primary.
Do you think any of those 20,000 Democrats voted for Dorothy Moon? Not a chance. All of them would have voted for Phil McGrane who was the establishment choice.
The unfair and often double standard for our organization by the Idaho Secretary of State’s office has long been a complaint of ours. The ISAA wants the same standards applied to all groups.
We hope that McGrane will keep his promise to treat everyone fairly when he takes office.
Finally, gun owners might have been shocked that anti-gun Congressman Mike Simpson easily won his race over challenger Bryan Smith.
Simpson is pro-Red Flag laws, pro-bump stock ban, pro-Universal Background Checks, and pro-deputizing of local law enforcement to enforce federal gun control.
Does that sound like someone who understands Idaho values? It sounds to us more like someone who would fit better as a Congressman in California or New York.
Simpson’s victory should give gun owners across the state a lot of concern. Is Idaho slowly drifting away from its conservative values?
We have long warned that Idaho may go the way of Colorado, California, Oregon, or Washington if we don’t educate voters on what is happening here. Simpson’s victory may be the clearest sign yet that Idaho is not as “Red” as it used to be.
Gun owners must re-group and take back this state from the radical leftists who continue to attack our values.
Thank you to all the voters who educated yourselves and figured out which candidates were pro-2nd Amendment and which ones weren’t. Educating yourself is the best thing you can do before you vote.
While the ISAA can’t tell you who to vote for or against, we do our best to educate voters on where candidates stand on the 2nd Amendment, and we will continue to do so far into the future.
With a renewed State Senate, now is the time for gun owners to go “all-in” on the best pro-2nd Amendment bills we can put forward!
2023 is going to be our year!
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For Idaho,
Greg Pruett
President
Idaho Second Amendment Alliance
