Partying with Republicans

What a night. First, I’m sorry about the livestream. I had my computer and equipment set up but I couldn’t get OBS to connect to YouTube. I had a lot of fun stuff prepared, including a scrolling ticker that would show updates to local races, but I didn’t want to spend the night messing with technology so I decided to just livetweet instead.

It was an incredible night. The Courtyard Marriott was packed with enthusiastic Republicans and conservatives who came together in anticipation of victory. The evening started somewhat tentatively — we were all there to have fun, but what news would the night bring?

By the time Idaho GOP chair Dorothy Moon introduced Sens. Mike Crapo and Jim Risch, we already knew they would return to Washington with a Republican majority in the Senate.

Early returns shows Proposition 1 losing in Idaho, while Sen. Dan Foreman faced a tough challenge in district 6. The three races in districts 15 looked to be close, as well as districts 26 and 29. I profiled these four swing districts at the Chronicle last week. Would the red wave lift all boats?

As it became clear that Proposition 1 would be going down, Chairwoman Moon recognized many of the volunteers who helped defeat the pernicious idea, including Ashley Mujagic and Ryan Spoon of the Ada County GOP.

As the night went on it became clear that Prop 1 was not only going to lose, but lose bigly. Many people worked very hard to win that battle, but Dorothy Moon was out there on Day 1, having recognized how important it was for the Idaho Republican Party to take a strong stand against this initiative.

Just before 11:30pm, Newsmax called Pennsylvania for Donald Trump, putting him over 270 electoral votes and delivering the presidency. Those still left in the room erupted, first in cheers, then in chants of USA! USA!

With nearly every vote counted (Blaine and Canyon Counties still have outstanding votes), here are the results from Idaho. I will spend some time over the next week or so digging deeper into these races.

Proposition 1 (Ranked choice voting):
No – 69.8%
Yes – 30.2%

HJR5 (Only citizens can vote):
Yes – 64.9%
No – 35.1%

District 6 Senate:
Dan Foreman (R) – 53.3%
Julia Parker (D) – 46.7%

District 15 Senate:
Codi Galloway (R) – 51.8%
Rick Just (D) – 48.2%

District 15 House Seat A:
Annette Tipton (R) – 49.5%
Steve Berch (D) – 50.5%

District 15 House Seat B:
Dori Healey (R) – 53.6%
Shari Baber (D) – 46.4%

District 26 Senate:
Laurie Lickley (R) – 46.7%
Ron Taylor (D) – 41.7%
Kala Tate (Ind) – 11.5%

EDIT 5:00pm: Taylor pulled ahead in the final vote dump from Blaine County. He wins with 45.6%, Lickley takes second with 43.9%, and Tate ends with 10.5%.

District 26 House Seat A:
Mike Pohanka (R) – 54.9%
Ned Burns (D) – 45.1%

District 26 House Seat B:
Jack Nelson (R) – 55.1%
Chris Hansen (D) – 44.9%

District 29 House Seat A:
Dustin Manwaring (R) – 55.2%
Mary Shea (D) – 44.8%

District 29 House Seat B:
Tanya Burgoyne (R) – 52.6%
Nate Roberts (D) – 47.4%

Blaine County still has not finished reporting, and the district 26 Senate race is within the margin of outstanding votes, so stay tuned. Assuming Lickley holds on, the Idaho GOP picks up two seats the Senate and two seats in the House, pushing their majorities in those chambers to 30-5 and 61-9. The Idaho Democratic Party has more or less been reduced to a few square miles in Boise. (EDIT: With Sen. Taylor holding on, the GOP has a 29-6 advantage in the Senate.)

Republicans held both Ada County Commissioner races, as Ryan Davidson and Tom Dayley each easily fended off Democratic challengers. Ada County Sheriff candidate Doug Traubel took 23.68% of the vote in a two-way race against incumbent Matt Clifford. The more leftist candidates for Ada County Highway District won solid victories, however, once again illustrating the oddity of that agency.

I’ll have deeper analysis in the coming days. For now, let’s celebrate and rest. Idaho rejected Prop 1 by more than a 2:1 margin, showing that all the out-of-state money in the world cannot convince voters to do something so foolish as upend their election systems. At the national level, Donald Trump will be president again, buying us a little more time to save our state and our country. Congratulations, America.