BOISE, Idaho — Idaho will hold a Republican Caucus on March 2. It's result of a snafu in the legislature that made it impossible to hold a primary this year. The Idaho GOP says it's ready to go and Idaho will get added attention before Super Tuesday.
- Only Republicans registered before January 1st are eligible.
- Idaho has 32 delegates up for grabs that go entirely to any candidate who gets more than 50 percent of the vote. Otherwise, they’re awarded proportionally.
- Voting is done in each county by secret ballot starting at either 11 a.m. or 12 p.m. depending on county
- Idaho uses a Firehouse Caucus format which allows only one round of voting
- If you don’t get a postcard with instructions go to Idgop.org to find your caucus location.
(Below is the transcript from the broadcast story)
The Idaho GOP is holding a presidential caucus on March 2, but this isn’t how it was supposed to go.
A primary was the first choice but wasn’t decided in time. Was it deliberate, was it an accident? Either way, it’s costing the GOP and deepening divisions within the party.
When Idaho’s caucus rolls around there’s likely to be one mainstream candidate left. So, you may ask — and we did — why even bother?
“Those delegates have to be accounted for and we have to have a good turnout to show how rah rah we are for a presidential candidate and make sure we’re relevant in a presidential Race,” said Dorothy Moon, chairwoman of the Idaho Republican Party.
It wasn’t supposed to be this way. Idaho wanted a primary, but a legislative snafu left the GOP with no choice.
“Well it's unfortunate the state’s central committee for the Republican Party wasn’t even conferred with prior," said Moon.
If you sense a little frustration, you’re probably not wrong.
The state GOP wrote recently that the snafu that led to a caucus was known before the senate voted on it, but senate pro tem Chuck Winder pushed the bill through and the governor signed it.
"But you know what we’ve made lemonade out of lemons,” said Moon.
“Money does play a key role here,” explains Jaclyn Kettler, political science professor at BSU.
“When you have a primary the state pays for it and when you have a caucus, the party pays for it,” she continued.
So, while the GOP took in $300,000 from six candidates most of whom have or will likely suspend their campaigns, it will now have to spend that money to pull off a caucus.
So does that mean the GOP is squabbling over money and philosophy? Or was it just an honest mistake.
Kettler doesn’t seem to buy into coincidences.
“We continue to see some divisions play out in a variety of ways. I think we’re going to continue to see these tensions and divisions play out throughout this legislative session,” said Kettler.
But Moon says everything is right as rain with the GOP.
“We are doing well financially. For the caucus and that $300,000 will go to caucus expenses," said Moon.
"As you can see in office we’ve got boxes all over the place getting ready to put caucus kits together," she continued.
They’re in the process of sending out 580,000 post cards to registered republicans informing them of where they will need to go to take part.
Again, the caucus is March 2 which puts Idaho before Super Tuesday and gives us more exposure on the national stage, even though there’s not likely to be much drama with Trump as the clear candidate.
