Traditional Republicans in Idaho missed an opportunity, and they won’t get another one anytime soon

Democracy thrives when every voice is heard and leaders receive broad support from an engaged electorate. With Republican primaries closed and independents excluded, Idaho is far from that ideal. Since Idaho Republicans concluded their primary in 2012, the Legislature has become increasingly extreme, favoring fringe issues over public needs.

Concerned citizens launched the Open Primaries Initiative, or Proposition 1, to reorient politics to the views of the average voter. It would have opened primaries and created instant runoffs where voters could rank candidates based on their preference. It’s like telling a waiter at the deli that you want chicken noodle soup, but if that’s not true, your second choice is minestrone and so on.

Of course, right-wing extremists who benefited from the status quo got into arguments. Because the far-right controls the Idaho Republican Party apparatus, they used it to wage a campaign against him.

What’s confusing is that the leaders who stood to gain the most from Proposition 1 — traditional Republican lawmakers — didn’t support it.

Proposition 1 would have rescued these lawmakers from their abusive relationship with their own party. Many Republican lawmakers vote for bad bills because they fear friendly fire: misleading attacks in primaries and tribunals, and sanctions from far-right party bosses. A district party tried to prevent an incumbent representative from running under the Republican label.

Proposition 1 would have broken this torturous pattern. And while Senator Linda Wright Hartgen wrote an excellent op-ed in support, her voice was lost in the sea of ​​those who spoke out against it or remained silent. Most traditional Republican officials were too afraid of the short-term discomfort of bucking their party, even if it meant easier elections for them and less terrible policies for Idahoans.

What can be done now that far-right tactics have killed Proposal 1? Idahoans need to be louder than the GOP party bosses.

Voters will have to call, email and testify as Republican lawmakers seek to roll back Medicaid expansion and strip health care from 84,000 Idaho residents, leaving them in the coverage gap.

Voters must oppose GOP proposals to divert precious dollars to private, religious and for-profit projects as neighborhood schools struggle to stay open, maintain athletics and retain teachers.

Idaho businesses and families must emphasize protecting scholarships that pave the way for the next generation to in-demand careers.

And voters must demand the repeal of dangerous abortion bans before more labor and delivery wards are closed and more women suffer long-term health effects such as infertility or even death.

Idaho’s Democratic lawmakers stand with public opinion on these critical issues. But Republican lawmakers will need sustained pressure to do the right thing. It’s up to voters to deliver it.

Rep. Lauren Necochea, D-Boise, is chairwoman of the Idaho Democratic Party.