Press Release: IDGOP Statement in Response to Bingham County East Idaho News Article

The following press release was sent out by the Idaho Republican Party. Press releases do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of those at the Idaho Dispatch.

Boise, ID — The Idaho Republican Party would like to address the false allegations made recently by Matt Thompson and Ben Fuhriman about the Bingham County Presidential Caucuses. This seems to be creating intentional confusion surrounding the Presidential Caucus.

Elected Bingham County Precinct Committeemen that registered as Caucus Captains with the state party are in fact the Caucus Captains that will be overseeing the 3 Caucuses in Bingham County. The Executive Committee approved overwhelmingly, with only one dissenting vote, the appointment of representatives to oversee the 3 Bingham County caucuses.

Advertisement

Based on the State Party Rules of the Idaho Republican Presidential Caucus, each Caucus location will have one Caucus Captain to oversee the caucus. There are 25 Precinct Committeemen in Bingham County, and only 3 caucus locations. The Caucus Captain assignments needed to be consolidated so that there was a single Caucus Captain for each of the 3 locations. Article V, Section 7 of the Rules of the Idaho Republican Presidential Caucus state: “The State Executive Committee may appoint representatives to oversee any aspect of any county or legislative district’s caucus process.” Due to the fact that there were multiple overlapping registrations for Caucus Captain for the same caucus locations, the Executive Committee was required to select a Caucus Captain from the registrants for each of the 3 caucus sites.

Ron Murdock, a Bingham Precinct Committeeman, will be the Caucus Captain at the caucus that will be held at Snake River High School. Dr. Kirt McKinlay, a Bingham Precinct Committeeman, will be the Caucus Captain at the caucus that will be held at the Blackfoot High School Gym. Jim Barbre, a Bingham Precinct Committeeman, will be the Caucus Captain at the caucus that will be held at Shelley High School.

Due to pending litigation that Bingham County filed against the State Party, there is no current Bingham County Chairman to act as the Caucus Coordinator. Therefore, the State Executive Committee, including the Region 6 Acting Chair, approved the appointment of a Caucus Coordinator to oversee the 3 Bingham Caucus Captains.

Advertisement

The article falsely misstates that the caucus rules say a polling place must be within 19 miles of a community. There is no rule in the Idaho Republican Caucus Rules that states a location must be within 19 miles of a community. In fact, there is no distance requirement listed in the state party caucus rules at all.

Ben Fuhriman falsely states that the State Party has been working behind the scenes with an unelected group. This is misinformation, the State Party has been working with elected Precinct Committeemen to make sure all Bingham County residents have the opportunity to participate in the Presidential Caucus on March 2, 2024. Rest assured: the Idaho GOP will ensure that your voice will be heard on March 2nd.