BOISE, Idaho — On Saturday, Idaho Republicans will be caucusing to help decide where Idaho will send its delegates for the GOP presidential nomination. This is a huge change in how it was done for the last two cycles, and it happened because of a legislative mistake.
- In 2023, while trying to move the 2024 primary from March to May, the legislature "inadvertently" got rid of the primary. After attempts to bring it back failed, the Idaho GOP decided to have a caucus.
- To find your local Caucus location visit the GOP's Caucus website.
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story.)
For most presidential election cycles, voting for the Republican nominee has looked like a primary for many Idahoans.
But at Saturday's caucus, it'll look a little more like this.
As the GOP gears up for their caucus, it's easy to forget how we got here. It was because of what some call a mistake inside the walls of the Idaho State Capitol.
Last session, the Legislature passed a bill to move the republican primary from March to May.
"But inadvertently in the Bill, they actually ended up dropping the presidential primary election altogether," said Senator Scott Herndon.
Senator Scott Herndon and I have been talking about this topic since the Fall.
He explains that some legislators wanted the primary in March so Idaho could be early among other states in the process to select the presidential candidate, others wanted the primary in May to consolidate it with Idaho's May election.
"So there was that fighting going on and that probably had something to do with it," Herndon said.
But how does a bill that causes such a change get passed on both sides of the statehouse, AND the governor's desk?
"And I honestly can't explain how we ended up leaving for the session and didn't fix that problem," Herndon told Idaho News 6.
Herndon said people, like himself, knew of the problem but they weren't able to get a bill that fixed the problem before the session adjourned.
"You know, that just tells you the legislative process is not perfect," Herndon said.
Then it came to this past Fall when some legislators tried to get a special session to reinstate a primary, all before an October 1 deadline for the party to decide how they'd be sending their delegates.
That deadline came and went, which leaves us with Saturday's Republican Caucus.
But Herndon says he's excited and feels a Caucus offers a unique opportunity that primaries don't.
"It'll probably feel a little bit more social, and a little like a community event, and probably a lot of people will be like-minded and so you'll feel like you're coming together with people who share your political perspective," Herndon said.