Democrats once boasted that they were the party of the American working man. The union employees who built America’s cars, the salt-of-the-earth farmer, and the tradesman were once the backbone of the Democratic Party. Yet over the past few decades, the party has all but abandoned the working man in favor of a coalition of ethnic and sexual minorities, first-generation immigrants, Muslims, and anyone else who seeks to remake the United States of America in their own image. Donald Trump won the Rust Belt states of Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania because he spoke directly to the men and women who had been left behind by both parties since the end of the 20th century.
Over the past few election cycles, Democrats have tried to elevate candidates which they believe can serve as simulacra of the working class men who once voted reliably Democratic. They tried Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, but he turned out to be a total dweeb. Graham Platner in Maine was supposed to be a man’s-man progressive Democrat, but he just withdrew from his Senate race following numerous accusations of sexual assault. They’re promoting James Talarico in Texas in the same manner, but he just comes across as effete and milquetoast.
In the Mountain West, home to archetypes including Paul Bunyan, Kit Carson, and Jim Bridger, that conundrum is amplified by the toxicity of the Democratic label. In the eyes of working families in Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming, Democrats are weirdo liberals from California and Colorado. Some progressives seem to have decided that defeating Republicans requires running a regular white guy on an independent ticket. Just this week, the Montana Free Press reported that progressive PACs are pulling out of the U.S. Senate race even as Democratic power brokers throw their support behind independent candidate Seth Bodnar. The Montana Republican Party characterized the situation this way:
Democrats’ solution? Run Seth Bodnar as a phony “Independent” and hope that voters won’t discover his personal ties to the Obamas and Clintons…or that he was groomed to run by Jon Tester and Chuck Schumer…or that Bodnar’s campaign is being run by Tester’s former staffers.
Clearly, rather than returning to sanity the Democrats have instead opted to repackage and resell their failed policies and candidates as fake Independents, all the while hoping voters won’t connect the dots.
A similar strategy is at play in Idaho. To his credit, Todd Achilles doesn’t come across as a dweeb like Tim Walz, as effete as James Talarico, and he doesn’t appear to have the sordid past of Graham Platner. He’s a U.S. Army veteran, a technology professional, a policy wonk, and a husband and father. Yet there is one problem for his independent campaign for the U.S. Senate, and that is his voting record.
You might have received a text message from the Achilles campaign attempting to imply that he is actually more conservative than Sen. Jim Risch, the Republican incumbent. One citizen was even told that Achilles is conservative and a former Republican.
This rhetoric doesn’t match his record. Having served parts of two terms in the Idaho House of Representatives as a Democrat, Achilles can’t hide his true positions. A small sampling of his votes in the Legislature illustrates the point:
- He voted against House Bill 32, prohibiting mask mandates by government agencies.
- He voted against House Bill 93, the Parental Choice Tax Credit.
- He voted against House Bill 98, which would prohibit taxpayer subsidies for teacher’s unions. This policy was eventually enacted in 2026 as House Bill 516.
- He voted against House Bill 135, which would bar illegal aliens from taxpayer-funded welfare programs.
- He voted against House Bill 668, which would prevent taxpayer dollars from supporting transgender surgeries.
- He voted against House Bill 710, requiring public and school libraries to stop allowing children access to obscene materials.
- He voted against House Bill 753, which would have set the most basic level of enforcement against illegal aliens. He voted against similar legislation, House Bill 83, in 2025.
- He voted against Senate Bill 1198, prohibiting state colleges and universities from requiring DEI programs for students or staff.
- He voted against Senate Bill 1210, the Medical Freedom Act.
In short, despite Todd Achilles attempting to portray himself as an independent alternative to the two-party system, he is very much a creature of Democratic ideology. His donations over the past two years have gone almost exclusively to Democrats at the state level, though he did donate to liberal Republicans Sean Coletti and Lori McCann, along with a few others. His national donations have gone almost exclusively to Democrats as well. Finally, as chairman of Veterans for Idaho Voters, Achilles was one of the prime movers behind the ranked-choice voting initiative, which Idahoans defeated in 2024 by a 70-30 margin.
You might have seen billboards throughout Idaho contrasting the 58-year-old Achilles with the 83-year-old Jim Risch. This narrative is a centerpiece of Achilles’ campaign—that, at 83, Risch is too old to properly represent the people of Idaho. However, in a glowing profile by the Post Register earlier this year, Achilles expressed his hope that he could work with other supposedly independent senators like Angus King of Maine and Bernie Sanders of Vermont to broker legislation. However, like Achilles, King and Sanders are essentially Democrats in all but name, and, like Risch, both men are in their 80s—King is currently 82, while Sanders is 84.
To Todd Achilles, 83 is too old for the Senate—unless you’re a leftist, in which case it’s fine.
In the years I watched him in the Legislature, I found Todd Achilles to be intelligent and well-spoken, though a bit hot-headed at times. He’s come across as friendly and personable in the handful of direct interactions we’ve had. His campaign is attempting to speak the language of conservatism—his most recent Substack post calls out “corporate socialism”—yet his record is what it is. It’s that record—not any slick campaign branding—that offers the clearest indication of how he would serve in the U.S. Senate.
Feature image created with Grok.
About Brian Almon
Brian Almon is the Editor of the Gem State Chronicle. He also serves as Chairman of the District 14 Republican Party and is a trustee of the Eagle Public Library Board. He lives with his wife and five children in Eagle.
