Free Republic

- The Hon. Vern Bisterfeldt is a retired Boise City Police officer and as a Republican served multiple terms as an Ada County Commissioner. He is now a Boise City Councilor. - Pat Pettiette, is a former vice president at Washington Group International, and served as the project manager for a U.S. Department of Energy project. He is a past donor to President George Bush and U.S. Senator Mike Crapo.

I just received a phone call froma woman who announced herself as calling for "Idaho for Obama". I decided to listen to what she had to say as I had never had such a call before and I wanted to try and find out what she was really about. She said that they were calling to encourage everyone to vote this election and was I aware that in Idaho we could all vote by mail. I indicated that I would be voting at the polls since I was not needing to vote absentee and would be in town. She indicated...

BOISE - Barack Obama trails John McCain by 39 percentage points in the first Rasmussen telephone survey of Idaho voters. Rasmussen Reports currently gives McCain a 99. 9 percent chance of winning Idaho’s four electoral college votes in November.

Thursday, September 11, 2008 Email to a Friend Republicans in Idaho appear to have safely weathered the Larry Craig scandal, with the GOP candidate for his seat in the Senate ahead nearly two-to-one over his Democratic opponent. Jim Risch, Idaho’s current lieutenant governor, leads Larry LaRocco, a former congressman, 58% to 30% in the first Rasmussen Reports survey of voters in the state. Risch served briefly as governor in 2006 after the elected chief executive was appointed to President Bush’s Cabinet. Interestingly, Risch just defeated LaRocco in 2006 to be reelected lieutenant governor and also beat him 20 years earlier...

Don’t expect to see Barack Obama spending much time in the Republican stronghold of Idaho this fall. The Democratic presidential nominee trails John McCain by a staggering 68% to 29% in the first Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Idaho voters. McCain has the support of 96% of the state’s Republicans and 18% of Democrats. Obama is backed by 77% of Idaho Democrats and three percent (3%) of GOP voters. Unaffiliated voters give McCain the edge by a whopping 63% to 30%.

MCCAIN WELL AHEAD OF OBAMA IN IDAHO, RANKING THIRD IN SUPPORT ONLY BEHIND UTAH AND WYOMING McCain leads by a 52%-29% margin “if the election was held today”. Further, a sizable McCain lead remains regardless of region of residence within Idaho, age, gender, and years having lived in Idaho. Even among Democrats, 35% say they would vote for McCain. Idaho’s 23% lead lags only behind Utah (39%) and Wyoming (37%) in McCain support. Greg Smith & Associates will reveal the results of polling work done on Idaho’s U.S. Senate race between Jim Risch (R), Larry LaRocco (D), and Rex Rammell...

IDAHO. Governor Butch Otter (R) is hinting he may work behind the scenes to defeat bombastic freshman Congressman Bill Sali (R) in November.

SANDPOINT, Idaho — New Idaho Republican Chairman Norm Semanko takes over a party that dominates the state but threatened to burst at the seams at this weekend's convention, with disparate factions at odds over everything from tackling marijuana legalization to whether to close the state's GOP primary to all but registered party voters. Semanko ousted two-term incumbent Kirk Sullivan, who earlier Saturday had been endorsed by Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter. The tally was 227-169. A separate 199-192 vote among delegates in Sandpoint that supported retaining the state's open primary is indicative just how divided this convention was. That vote is...

John McCain has the Republican nomination wrapped up, but Ron Paul isn't going anywhere. In fact, in Tuesday's little-noticed Republican primary in Idaho, the iconoclastic Texas congressman had his best showing so far, grabbing 24 percent of the vote, nearly 30,000 votes in all. McCain won with 70 percent, while the other 6 percent went to uncommitted...

This is the link to the UNOFFICIAL Idaho Primary Election Night results.

When there’s trouble in Idaho for Republicans, you know they’re hurting everywhere. We’ve already seen the grassroots revolt in the works on the part of Paul supporters. But the fissures in the Idaho party run deeper. At the core of the party split is a fight over Idaho’s primary system between the state central committee and many elected officials. The battle came to a head this week, causing one Idaho observer to take note of the strong contrast between a united Democratic party in Idaho, and the Republican infighting [sub. required]: With Obama at the top of the ticket, Democrats...

Former Micron executive Larry Grant said Thursday morning that he will not run for the U.S. House in Idaho's 1st congressional district. Instead, Grant endorsed Walt Minnick, a former timber executive who ran for the U.S. Senate in 1996.

Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho), encumbered by a scandal since last summer, did not file for reelection by his state’s deadline Friday, keeping a promise he made and officially marking the end of his congressional career. Craig’s political future has been in doubt since his arrest and guilty plea on disorderly conduct charges filed after an incident in a men’s restroom at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport last June. The three-term senator, who previously served five terms in the House, denied the charges that he solicited sex from an undercover police officer conducting a sting operation to crack down on alleged gay...

by Antenna Wilde As the GOP struggles to find it's "voice", the nation seems to have run off with Obama. Looking over the charts and numbers, I find it increasing difficult to come to any other conclusion. Not only is he mopping up the blue states, he seems to be doing as well—if not better—in the red ones. Take Idaho: huge victory for the GOP in 2004 (Bush won the state with 69%). And here's Obama sweeping Idaho on Super Tuesday with a stunning 80%... to Hillary Clinton's 17. While all of Hillary victories (except Arkansas) have been in the...

Fox News projects Barack Obama the winner of the Idaho Democrat caucuses.

Mitt Romney supporters in Idaho won't say they're disappointed in their candidate's finish Tuesday night, but State Schools Superintendent Tom Luna says he is anxious. "But I suspect that no matter who you're supporting right now on either party, cause its so fluid." Right now, there's no clear front runner for the Republican presidential nomination. That's despite Romney spending far more money than any other candidate in both New Hampshire and Iowa and still losing both. But his Idaho campaign chair Lieutenant Governor Jim Risch says Romney's in a good position, because he has more delegate votes right now than...

WASHINGTON — Idaho Sen. Larry Craig will resign from the Senate Saturday after pressure from fellow Republicans to step down after an arrest in a men's room sex sting, according to a report. Craig decided to resign with plans to make the announcement on Saturday, the Associated Press reported. Craig will hold a news conference in Boise on Saturday, his spokesman, Dan Whiting said, but he would not say whether the three-term senator planned to step down. Idaho Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter, however, appeared to have settled on a successor: Lt. Gov. Jim Risch, according to several Republicans familiar with...