On Friday, Independent Gubernatorial Candidate Ammon Bundy visited the Senior Center in Malad on his tour of the state.  Bundy began his presentation by expressing the hope that those who were there would be ready for a “a good conversation about some of the things I think are important to Idaho.”  After surveying the crowd about what “Freedom” meant to them, Bundy settled on a definition of “the ability to do whatever you want, as long as it doesn’t infringe on anyone else’s rights.”

Using this definition as a central conceit, Bundy went on to briefly recount his own experience with regard to the issue.  In 2014, and then later in 2017, Bundy was heavily involved in incidents with the Federal government regarding land and water rights.  In 2014, the Bundy ranch in Nevada was involved in a protracted dispute with the Federal government that resulted in intense national news coverage, ultimately resulting in a draw down of Federal forces.  In 2017, he was arrested for occupying a Federal building in Oregon.  In both cases, Bundy made his case that the incidents were examples of government overreach against the land rights of farmers and ranchers.  Bundy was recently also arrested for misdemeanor trespassing at the State Capitol.

Bundy then turned to discuss his views on what he sees as the current issues affecting freedom in the state of Idaho, with the particular subject of Governor Brad Little as his focal point.  Bundy focused on Governor Little’s declaration of a State of Emergency at the outset of the COVID-19 outbreak, which allowed him to prohibit public gatherings and order businesses closed. 

He continued by stating that the State of Extreme Emergency further allowed the governor to expand the enforcement potential of the state policing mechanisms, pointing to an item in the declaration that allowed Little to maintain executive control of the enforcement arms of all state agencies.  Bundy criticized the Governor for accepting Federal Emergency funds as a result of the declaration, and specifically for using some of those funds for increases in the state food stamp program, government housing, and support for drug treatment facilities.

Bundy made a point of explaining that he believes the state police were potentially acting against the constitutional freedoms of religion and assembly in their shutting down of public religious gatherings and businesses during this period.  “A Bundy administration would support those officers who chose not to follow orders against their conscience,” he stated.  

One of Bundy’s primary platforms, which he discussed on Friday, was the idea of returning the “61% of Idaho land held by the government to the people.”  Due to the brief length of the presentation, Bundy was not able to go into much detail in terms of how such a decision would work on a practical level.  

He also discussed a plan to transform the means by which property taxes would be collected. He lamented that kids from rural communities are being funneled to urban areas “due to a lack of land,” and that living in those environments changed “their attitudes and ideas.”

He also announced that he would form a “source of verified information” for voters, including a mechanism for reporting voting rights violations in upcoming elections.  “Now, this would work in realtime,” he said.  “People could report things as they happened.”   

Bundy expressed his belief that “Idaho has to be an example to the country.  We can show everyone a different way.”

Bundy and the GOP

The day before Bundy’s visit to Malad, his campaign announced that he would no longer be running in the Idaho GOP primary, and had changed his status to Independent.  While he recognized that such a move would create headwinds for his campaign, he expressed confidence that a coalition of “unaffiliated voters, disaffected Republicans, the Constitution Party, Libertarians, and even some conservative Democrats” would be enough to power his campaign to victory.  

On Friday, the Idaho GOP released a statement in which they described Bundy as a “textbook definition of a Republican In Name Only (RINO) and unworthy of affiliating as a Republican, because he never shared our values, supported our platform, and never belonged in our party.”  

IDGOP Chairman Tom Luna said, in part, “He is the ultimate RINO.  However, our priority has always been and will continue to be driving registered Republicans to the polls and ensuring their voice is heard on May 17.”  Bundy himself did not mince words in response to a question about his change from the party affiliation, saying, “Our GOP leadership are filthy, and destroying the sovereignty of Idaho.  We know that over 50% of our membership are disgruntled with their own party.  They’re recognizing that.  We have chosen very strategically to run as Independents.”  

Janice McGeachin, the other high profile conservative running for the Idaho governorship, released a statement after Bundy’s announcement, in which she said “Today’s announcement by Ammon Bundy that he is withdrawing form the Republican Gubernatorial Primary makes it all the more clear that there is only one viable conservative candidate in the race…I strongly support the Idaho Republican Platform, which so many politicians routinely ignore, and I look forward to conservatives from across the state uniting behind our campaign to Make Idaho Free Again.”  Bundy has indicated that he may support McGeachin in the primary, in exchange for her endorsement of his Independent campaign.  “It’s an intriguing idea,” he said.

Without winning the Idaho GOP Primary, Bundy’s campaign to run as an Independent will require him to gather enough signatures to be placed on the ballot.

Governor’s Race

The governor’s race itself is already quite crowded, with six other candidates, including McGeachin and Steven Bradshaw, running for the GOP primary.  Bob Dempsey and Shelby Rogstad are running in the Democratic primary.  

Bundy will be joining candidates Jeff Cotton, Chantyrose Davison (Constitution Party), and John Dionne as exclusively general election candidates.  

The last Democratic governor of Idaho was Cecil Andrus, from 1987-1995, and Idaho has never elected a governor not affiliated with either the Republican or Democratic party in its history.  Across the US, there are no Independent governors in office, with Bill Walker of Alaska being the most recent, serving from 2014-2018.  Jesse Ventura is the most famous modern Independent governor, serving as the governor of Minnesota from 1999-2003.