MOON: The voting rights of our military

Tired of seeing bad faith attacks on the Idaho Republican Party and our future Presidential Caucus? I know I am. Honestly, it’s downright disgusting and I’m going to call out the bad actors behind it.

Idaho’s political establishment power brokers took a beating at the 2022 state convention in Twin Falls and haven’t recovered. They would rather destroy the party than see it led by me and our current leadership who actually listen to the grassroots. In recent weeks they have stepped up their attacks on the Presidential Caucus because they believe that if they fail, then I will take the blame and they can regain power.

There has been a concerted effort to spread lies, slander and misinformation about me and the caucus.

They say I unilaterally got rid of the mayor. It is not true! The secretary of state proposed a bill that eliminated the presidential primary, the Legislature passed it, and the governor signed it.

They say the Caucus is depriving those who can’t attend on Saturday. It is not true! The Legislature disenfranchised everyone by eliminating the presidential primaries, and the Caucus refreshed as many Republican voters as possible.

They say the caucus will be in yards and barns, with no electoral security. It is not true! The caucus will be held in 210 locations, mainly churches, schools and community centers across the state. We’ve worked hard to make sure your votes are secure and counted correctly with paper ballots, with multiple security features, and counted manually before the entire caucus meeting.

It is disappointing to see these groups intent on misrepresenting so many facts. They think they’re hurting me, but they’re really hurting the Republican voters in Idaho, the grassroots, the people of the land who care about keeping Idaho a conservative state. It is unfortunate that these groups have sent out unauthorized and unsigned bulletins and flyers that seem designed to sow division and misinformation rather than foster understanding. This willful misrepresentation only serves to deepen the animosity within the party. We encourage those sowing division to strive for clarity and honesty in their speech, rather than slander and mudslinging, as they have done.

Honestly, everything is unthinkable. It’s bordering on election interference, trying to confuse and second-guess voters by spreading disinformation about the Caucus, hoping no one will show up.

Just last week, a new email appeared accusing me of unilaterally depriving veterans of copyright. He even claimed to be a Republican supported by a quote from a former Republican legislator. However, the man behind the mailer is not a Republican at all, but a new Democratic representative named Todd Achilles. In addition to being a Democrat, he is also one of the activists behind the ranked-choice voting initiative. Talk about wolves in sheep’s clothing!

Remember that this whole situation came about because the Secretary of State, the Legislature, and the Governor chose to do away with the March presidential primary without consulting the party. The Idaho GOP worked with the Legislature after the 2012 caucus to create the March primary.

Guess what?! They’re back at it again, pushing a new bill to consolidate April’s presidential and legislative primaries. Not only would this not solve the problem of making Idaho relevant in presidential campaigns, but it would also seriously impact sitting lawmakers, who will have only a few days to conduct their own campaigns once the session adjourns . This is a compromise that pleases no one, which we could have told the sponsors if they had bothered to ask.

This attempt to sabotage the Caucus will not succeed. Our team worked hard to make this a great and successful event, as did thousands of volunteers across the country. On Saturday, Republicans will come together to make their voices heard in a spirit of community to support their presidential candidate.