Idaho Gov. Little Fends Off Trump-Endorsed Opponent In GOP Primary

IDAHO — Gov. Brad Little will likely get to keep his seat for another term after beating out the state's Donald Trump-backed lieutenant governor in Idaho's Republican primary Tuesday, according to The Associated Press, which called the race for Little about 90 minutes after the last polls closed.

As of about 10:40 p.m. MST, with 14 of 44 counties fully or partially reporting, Little had 56,685 votes — or 61.42 percent of the total — compared with challenger Janice McGeachin's 22,974 votes (or 24.89 percent), according to unofficial state results. Idaho has not had a Democratic governor since the 1990s, the Associated Press reported.

McGeachin had presented herself as an ultra-conservative alternative to Little. While Little refused to implement a statewide mask mandate amid the coronavirus pandemic but let cities and school districts enact their own requirements, McGeachin banned all such mandates when Little was out of the state, according to The New York Times.

Little prohibited abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, whereas McGeachin argued exemptions in state law for rape, incest and the woman’s life should be removed, the Times reported. And while Little supported lawsuits to invalidate the 2020 election results in four states, McGeachin wanted a 50-state audit, according to FiveThirtyEight.

McGeachin, who obtained former President Donald Trump’s endorsement in the gubernatorial primary, supports private militias, started a task force to look at indoctrination in the state’s education system and gave a video speech at a conference organized by a white nationalist, according to National Public Radio and the Times.

Little, on the other hand, has positioned himself as a fiscal conservative who made big budget cuts and helped facilitate a rapid economic recovery in the wake of the pandemic, NPR reported.

Tuesday's outcome was not entirely a surprise — McGeachin was lagging, with 29 percent to Little’s 60 percent, in a Zoldack Research poll last month, according to FiveThirtyEight.