Fulcher, Labrador, Moyle Headline Anti-Prop 1 Event

By Greg Pruett • October 12, 2024

Congressman Russ Fulcher (R-CD1), Attorney General Raul Labrador (R), and House Speaker Mike Moyle (R-Star) were the headline speakers for an anti-Proposition 1 event last night.

The event, called the “Potato Street Patriots” was held at the Old State Saloon. The Old State Saloon is the bar in Eagle which made national news earlier this year for hosting a “Heterosexual Awareness Month.” Approximately 80 to 100 people attended the event according to sources who were in attendance.

One Person, One Vote were the organizers for the event. The group is a Political Action Committee co-founded by Rep. Josh Tanner (R-Eagle). The PAC was founded to oppose Prop 1.

Fulcher spoke first about the dangers of ranked choice voting and how it would alter Idaho’s political terrain. Fulcher also spoke about how ranked choice voting has impacted Alaska’s elections and their current effort to repeal the law.

Labrador spoke second against Prop 1, saying the groups and individuals pushing Prop 1 want to turn Idaho into a blue state. Additionally, Labrador said that Idahoans who oppose Prop 1 should talk to their family and friends about the issue.

Labrador also said that the pro-Prop 1 side had lied to Idaho voters. He told the crowd,

“If people have to lie to you about what their purposes are then their ideas are bad.”

Moyle reiterated what Fulcher and Labrador spoke about saying ranked choice voting will be bad for Idaho. Moyle also criticized the pro-Prop 1 side telling the crowd they lied to Idaho’s voters.

Prop 1 will appear on the ballot this November and will change Idaho’s primary system to a top four primary. The Top four primary would include all candidates on one ballot, regardless of party affiliation, if any, and the top four vote earners would move on to the general election. A candidate does not have to affiliate with the party they choose to put next to their name on the ballot.

Additionally, Prop 1 will implement ranked choice voting for general elections. Voters will have the ability to rank the four candidates who made it through the top four primary in order of preference. If a candidate does not get to 50% +1 after the first round, then there is an instant runoff.

During the runoff, the last place candidate is eliminated from contention and voter’s who chose that candidate have their second choice candidate’s votes distributed to the other candidates. This process repeats until a candidate has 50% +1. If a voter does not rank candidates for each successive round then their ballots do not count for those rounds of the instant run off.

In Idaho Dispatch’s recent polling conducted by Zoldak Research, the yes vote for Proposition 1 trails the no vote by 5.8%.

Note: Pictures courtesy of Daniel Murphy.