Candidates make pitch for state offices

BONNERS FERRY — Candidates for state offices made their pitch to voters at a March 31 candidate forum in Boundary County.

The Bonners Ferry Chapter of the John Birch Society sponsored and organized the event.

GOVERNOR

Bonner County Commission Steve Bradshaw and Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin both made their bid for the governor’s seat.

Bradshaw said the “failings” of Gov. Brad Little led him to announce a run for the seat, saying he misled Idahoans and “miscredited” McGeachin. He also spoke against mask mandates and said the governor is inconsistent with the timeline of COVID-19 protocols that he issued as he campaigns for re-election.

Bradshaw also focused on taxes in Idaho and how there is always talk of tax breaks, a phrase he said is misleading, instead saying they are actually tax shifts. Tax breaks are when the taxpayer pays less than before, Bradshaw said.

He said he would repeal the grocery tax and bring the greatest tax break in Idaho history.

“If the governor doesn’t know what to do with our tax dollars, I’d like it back,” he said.

He spoke out on receiving American Rescue Plan Act funds due to the vague language of having to comply with future executive orders. He contended Little continued the state of emergency so Idaho could qualify for the money.

He said that he was not in support of receiving federal dollars when Idahoans’ children and grandchildren will be footing the bill in the future.

“It is not money, but debt they’ve manufactured,” he said.

“The Idaho we love is slipping away,” McGeachin said as to why she is running for governor. “We need to fight to defend our individual freedoms and liberties. We need to fight to defend our state sovereignty. And we need to fight to protect our traditional conservative values.”

She said that Little is lying about not shutting down Idaho like other states were.

She spoke out against citations that were given to businesses that opened up “out of necessity” despite the state closure in early 2020.

“That's one of the first things I will do as your governor. I will return all those citations and fees that were issued to legitimate businesses who opened up outside of [Little’s] order,” she said.

She spoke against Little vetoing a bill banning vaccine mandates for business. She questioned why he would do that after spending taxpayer dollars to sue the Biden administration on vaccine passports.

“I wonder how much money, how much of our tax dollars did our governor spend suing the Biden administration for those vaccine mandates, when he vetoed a bill which would have prohibited it in [our] own state."

LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR

Representative Priscilla Giddings was the only lieutenant governor candidate able to attend the forum.

She spoke on her time in the military fighting for freedom in Afghanistan.

“We watched our friends die for freedom over there. And I realized here we were fighting for freedom for the Afghans for them to have a rule of law, for them to have free and fair elections,” she said. “In the meantime, we're losing those freedoms right here at home. And so I felt called to come home and to fight for freedom in our own backyard.”

She also spoke out on vaccine mandates.

“We're at this point now where my daughters no longer have the same opportunities that I had as a child based on their vaccination status and the color of their skin,” Giddings said. “And that's why I said it is time to start fighting for freedom right here in the Legislature.”

Giddings pointed to her six-year voting record as proof of her conservative principles and her 97% conservative voting record with the American Conservative Union.

If elected, she said she would continue to expose corruption and stand up for what she feels is right instead of caving in when money starts talking, Giddings said.

ATTORNEY GENERAL

Art Macomber is running for Idaho Attorney General. Raúl Labrador accepted the invitation to the forum, but had a last-minute cancellation.

Macomber said that he is pro-life, pro-gun and pro-freedom. He said he practiced in the Idaho courts for 15 years, arguing for the Idaho Supreme Court six times and, unlike his opponents, he said he is a practicing attorney and not a politician.

“It's not too late to take back our state. Over the past two years, Idaho has been subjected to draconian public health measures unprecedented in our history,” Macomber said.

He said that the system of checks and balances failed during COVID-19.

“Our system of checks and balances failed during the COVID pandemic. Political actors entrusted with defending your liberties were either silent or silenced,” Macomber said. “Your state executive branch sacrificed your statutory and constitutional rights on the altar of Cares Act funds.”

He said he would fight executive overreach, strengthen state sovereignty and protect Idaho balance.

If he’d been attorney general the past two years, he would have joined the Texas versus Pennsylvania election integrity suit, Macomber said. At the first renewal of the governor's emergency proclamation, he said he would have sued Little for acting outside this constitution and statutory authority.

“It is time for Idahoans to take back their state. Nothing less than the future of our Republic is at stake,” he said.

SECRETARY OF STATE

Representative Dorothy Moon from District 8B, was the only Secretary of State candidate at the forum.

Moon said she chose to toss her hat in the race because the other candidates running were not conservative while she has a 98% lifetime rating by the American Conservative Union. She said she is trying to reduce the spending in the state, because that’s where the real problem is.

She told those present that she stands for election integrity and wants to get rid of the affidavit option at the voting poll.

"The other thing that the Secretary of State does, besides being the chief election officer, […] is remove the doubt that you have in our elections,” Moon said.

Her solution is education which starts with the poll watchers, election workers and clerks knowing what to look for and for clerks to enforce Idaho collection laws.

Moon is also an advocate for state sovereignty. If elected, she would serve on the Idaho Land Board, of which the Secretary of State is a member. Among the board’s duties are taking care of the endowment lands, Moon said.

Moon said she wants to take back the 63% of the land that the federal government holds in Idaho and harvest timber in order to produce a reusable product that will benefit the state financially.

SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION

Braden Durst was the lone Superintendent of Public Instruction candidate present.

“As your state superintendent, you will be my priority,” Durst said. “Parents will have the place placed back in the driver's seat of their child’s education, which is where they belong.”

Durst criticized Sen. Jim Woodward for his actions when Durst tried to push a parental rights bill.

“[Woodward] killed a parental rights bill really being printed. Why? Because he doesn't believe that we should trust you,” Durst said.

“[…] There is a battle raging for the soul of our country, and it's happening in our schools. Every day students are told lies that completely contradict what their parents are teaching them,” he said.

He said parents shouldn’t be concerned with what is taught in school, because the schools should be going back to the basics teaching math, science and writing. Article Nine section one of the Idaho Constitution says the Idaho public school system is to protect our republican form of government, Durst said.

“I see current things [like] critical race theory and other documentation as antithetical to that,” he added. “And as you're a state superintendent, districts that are pushing those policies, they will get a call from my office, and they may get a lawsuit, because we have to be serious about this business. These are our kids.”

He said that school choice needs to be expanded and that the money should follow the students, so they are not beholden to the school district in their area.

When Durst served two terms in the house and one in the Senate, he was elected as a Democrat. He said that he still voted as one of the most conservative members of the Legislature, regardless of party.

“I would rather have served as a Democrat that voted Republican than a Republican that voted like a Democrat any day,” he said.

The primary election is on May 17.