Idaho's Conservatives Lift Up Third-Party Extremists

Voters in Idaho are so conservative that they're supporting third-party extremists.

Gov. Brad Little was challenged not only from the left by Democrat Stephen Heidt but also from the right by independent candidate Ammon Bundy.

Topline Takeaways

• Republicans swept all of Idaho’s major races this cycle. Gov. Little and Sen. Crapo both won statewide elections and both House incumbents won their respective districts.

• Conservatism reigns supreme in Idaho, so much so that many voters opted to support radical right-wing independent candidates over candidates from either major party.

Idaho’s Governor Race

Republican Governor Brad Little was re-elected by a wide margin, beating the Democratic challenger by over 40 points. This marks the eighth consecutive gubernatorial election that Republicans have won in Idaho. While most expected Republicans to prevail, voters’ strong support of a far-right independent candidate was unexpected.

Ammon Bundy is an anti-government extremist and the son of Cliven Bundy, a rancher that engaged in an armed confrontation with the United States Bureau of Land Management back in 2014. (Following in his father’s footsteps, Ammon staged his own standoff in Oregon two years later…) Ammon ran to the right of Governor Little, promising to pass an executive order outlawing abortion statewide on Day 1, eliminate state welfare and remove laws requiring immunizations. During the height of the pandemic, he was arrested countless times due to his unwillingness to comply with COVID-19 mitigation efforts.

What’s alarming is that Bundy received almost as many votes as Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stephen Heidt. Bundy trailed Heidt by only 20,000 votes and ultimately won 17.2% of the total votes cast in the gubernatorial election. This marks both the best third-party performance and the worst Democratic gubernatorial performance in Idaho since the 1920s. To make matters worse, Bundy beat Heidt in 34 of Idaho’s 44 counties.

The map above displays which gubernatorial candidate came in 2nd place in each county. Gov. Brad Little won every county for Republicans except Blaine county.

Idaho’s US House Races

Both of Idaho’s US House incumbents sailed through to re-election fairly easily, continuing Republican control of the state’s House seats. Rep. Russ Fulcher (ID-1) faced no primary challenger and ultimately beat his Democratic opponent by a strong 45-point margin. Rep. Mike Simpson (ID-2) on the other hand was challenged by a crowded field of primary opponents back in May. After beating four Republican opponents with 54% of the vote, Simpson beat his Democratic challenger Wendy Norman by a comfortable 27-point margin.

Idaho’s Senate Race

The state’s US Senate race mirrored its gubernatorial race: far-right conservatives opted to support an extremist third party candidate in lieu of either major party candidate. Scott Cleveland ran to the right of incumbent Sen. Crapo as an independent candidate. To illustrate his extremism: on his campaign website he called COVID-19 a “Chinese produced, bio-weapon” and vaccine passports “21st century medical segregation.” While Cleveland didn’t see quite the same level of support as Bundy (Cleveland never beat his Democratic opponent on a county level), he still notched a respectable 8.4% of the total vote.

More on Idaho From Battleground

• This election is clear confirmation that Idaho is a red state. But why?

• What if Idaho expanded its borders? Learn more about a group of voters who are pushing for a Greater Idaho.