BOISE, Idaho — Idaho Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin is running for governor.
The Idaho Falls Republican announced her candidacy at events in Idaho Falls, Boise and Coeur d’Alene on Wednesday, confirming longstanding rumors that she would try to unseat incumbent Gov. Brad Little, a member of her own party.
With American flags waving in the wind, McGeachin stepped toward the podium on the Idaho Capitol steps Wednesday afternoon. Speakers blared Krista Branch’s “I Am America,” an anti-establishment song that had become a rallying cry at Republican and Tea Party events 10 years ago. Several in the crowd wore red baseball caps with “drain the swamp” written in white letters.
Many held campaign signs with the hashtag #IAmIdaho. One of the speakers was Don Ahern, a Nevada Republican Party official closely aligned with former President Donald Trump.
McGeachin told her supporters that the governor of Idaho must defend individual rights against what she called “radical leftists” in the White House and Congress.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we are at a pivotal moment in history, not just for Idaho but for our nation,” McGeachin said in Boise. “Everything that makes Idaho great is under assault.”
A campaign website that said McGeachin will run for governor also appeared Tuesday ahead of the press conferences and was removed shortly afterward.
The gubernatorial primary will be held in May 2022. If McGeachin makes it through the primary, she would be the first female Republican gubernatorial candidate in Idaho.
McGeachin garnered national attention last fall over a gun-toting, Bible-holding appearance on an Idaho Freedom Foundation video, in which elected officials criticized Little for emergency health orders over the coronavirus and questioned whether the pandemic exists.
McGeachin, 58, throws her name in a crowded field of Republican gubernatorial candidates in the GOP primary. Ed Humphreys, an Eagle Republican, also announced his run for governor this week on a platform that included fighting “socialist” agendas, promoting “school choice” and eliminating the state income tax. Other candidates include Lisa Marie, Cody Usabel and Jeff Cotton. John Dionne is an unaffiliated candidate.
McGeachin became the state’s first female lieutenant governor after she was elected in November 2018 with nearly 60% of the vote. As lieutenant governor, she is second in line to the governor’s office. She also presides as president of the Senate.
McGeachin was an Idaho House member for 10 years. As chair of the House Health and Welfare Committee, she fought the implementation of a state-based health insurance exchange and cut Medicaid funding.
Education funding also faced roadblocks this year as Republican leaders tried to appease some legislators who said they feared “critical race theory” and indoctrination in schools. McGeachin last month announced a task force “to examine indoctrination in Idaho education,” with her and Rep. Priscilla Giddings as co-chairs.
The Idaho Education Association hasn’t endorsed any candidates yet. But Layne McInelly, president of the IEA, said McGeachin’s announcement “should be met with great distrust” by those who support Idaho public schools and teachers.
“In fact, there is no ambiguity in her track record — she consistently attempts to undermine education funding and degrade our dedicated educators,” McInelly said in a statement Wednesday. “Public education is the pathway to success and opportunity for children across our great state. McGeachin as governor would represent a huge step backward for Idaho students and public schools.”
It’s the second time in Idaho that a sitting lieutenant governor has challenged an incumbent governor of the same party, said Jason Hancock, deputy secretary of state. The first time was in 1938.
McGeachin’s run for governor further highlights the internal friction in the Idaho Republican Party that has been apparent throughout the pandemic. This legislative session, factions of Republican legislators held tense debates and battled over the state’s public health response, executive powers in times of emergencies and federal coronavirus aid.
“Over the last year, we have been tested, many stood strong in the face of challenges,” McGeachin told her supporters in Boise. “Unfortunately, some who were entrusted with positions of leadership caved to fear and compromised principles. We cannot forget the decisions that were made, the damage that was done and the lessons we have learned from last year.”
McGeachin criticized Little’s initial coronavirus restrictions as a “destructive” move that she claimed violated constitutional rights. She told Nate Shelman on his KBOI radio show that there “hasn’t been good communication” between her and Little’s office for a while.
Jaclyn Kettler, a political scientist at Boise State University, said the pandemic highlighted differences between McGeachin and Little. Conservative governors have faced a challenging year from the far right as they’ve responded to the pandemic with public health restrictions that sometimes faced backlash, Kettler added.
“I think that it’s been a rough year across the country for a lot of incumbents, especially governors,” Kettler said. “There definitely is a population that continues to be frustrated with what they view as the state’s overreach.”
Tom Luna, who chairs the Idaho Republican Party, said it’s not unusual for incumbents to be challenged by candidates within their own political party. The party pitches a “big tent,” he claimed — but Republicans are united on the majority of issues and on fighting the “radical agenda of the left,” he said.
”That’s what always unites the Republican Party and will continue to unite us,” Luna said.
