Idaho
Idaho Republican State Convention kicks off Thursday in Coeur d’Alene • Idaho Capital Sun
Hundreds of Republican delegates from across the state will gather in Coeur d’Alene beginning Thursday to elect a party chairperson and vote on the Idaho Republican Party’s platform, rules and resolutions.
The Idaho Republican State Convention is scheduled to run Thursday through Sunday at the Coeur d’Alene Resort and North Idaho College.
The state convention is held every two years and is where delegates elected by Republican county central committees gather to elect the party’s leadership and approve rules, resolutions and a party platform that will guide the party moving forward.
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“Our biennial convention will be where we do the work of the party and celebrate our conservative values with fellow Republicans from all across the Great State of Idaho,” Idaho Republican Party Chairwoman Dorothy Moon wrote in a letter to Idaho Republicans that is included in the convention program.
While delegates have the power to approve party rules and resolutions, they do not have the power to pass laws. Only the Idaho Legislature and citizens, using the ballot initiative process, can pass laws.
The state convention also serves as a major fundraiser for the Idaho Republican Party. In addition to delegates, alternates and guests selected by the county central committees will also attend.
On Friday night Kari Lake, a former television news anchor who is running for the United States Senate in Arizona, will speak during the Idaho Republican Party’s convention gallery.
At the Idaho GOP convention, news reporters will not be allowed inside business meetings during the convention and will be restricted to a designated area outside of meeting rooms, according to an email Idaho Republican Party officials sent the Idaho Capital Sun on June 7.
Idaho GOP chair candidates Moon and Souza have run against each other before
One of the closely watched agenda items this week will be the election of the Idaho Republican Party’s chair.
Last week, former state Sen. Mary Souza, R-Coeur d’Alene, announced that she is challenging Moon in the race for Idaho Republican Party chair.
Moon is also a former Idaho legislator from Stanley. Moon and Souza ran unsuccessfully in the 2022 Republican primary election for secretary of state, which got heated at times – including during the 2022 Idaho Debates.
In her announcement last week, Souza said she is running to unify the party under a conservative umbrella.
“I am running to restore unity within our party and to reaffirm our dedication to the conservative values that have long defined the Republican spirit,” Souza wrote June 6 in a written statement. “Our party stands at a crossroads, and it is essential that we come together to support the robust agenda set forth by President Donald Trump, to secure our southern border and to protect Idaho from the scourge of drugs like marijuana and fentanyl. The future of our state and our nation depends on our ability to stand united against the threats that challenge our way of life,” Souza continued. “Together, we can achieve great things for Idaho. It’s time to come together, as one unified Republican Party, and secure a brighter future for our state.”
Souza is a former critical care registered nurse who served four terms in the Idaho Senate. Souza finished third in the 2022 Republican primary election for secretary of state, which current Idaho Secretary of State Phil McGrane won.
Moon is a former public school special education director and gold miner who served three terms in the Idaho House of Representatives. Moon was elected chairwoman of the Idaho Republican Party during the 2022 Republican State Convention in Twin Falls, wresting control of the party away from former chairman and ex public schools chief Tom Luna.
Efforts to reach Moon on Monday were unsuccessful.
This biennial event unites representatives of the Republican grassroots to conduct party business and celebrate the values that bind us together. In a June 6 column Moon also wrote about the importance of unifying the party, writing that the convention itself offers Republicans across the state to unite heading into the Nov. 5 general election.
“Delegates and guests will have the chance to meet like-minded individuals from every corner of our great state and equip themselves with tools to become better voters, activists, and candidates,” Moon wrote. “Attendees will return home energized and ready to fight for faith, family and freedom in their communities.”
Idaho GOP to also vote on ranked choice voting, party affiliation
On top of the party leadership elections, Republican delegates will also vote on a proposed party platform and rules resolutions.
The party platform is a document that reflects the values and beliefs of the Idaho Republican Party.Proposed rules, resolutions and platform planks up for consideration during this week’s convention address an array of topics.
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Some of the proposed rules, resolutions and platforms deal with:
- Adding a plank to the party platform expressing formal opposition to ranked to choice voting, a component of the open primary ballot initiative that supporters hope to qualify for the Nov. 5 general election.
- Various platform planks and resolutions addressing undocumented immigration and calling on the government to “secure” the U.S. southern border with Mexico.
- A platform plank calling on support for Israel.
- A platform plank calling on the state to abolish the income tax.
- A resolution calling for the Idaho Republican Party to encourage the Idaho Legislature to make and pass bills that ban any vote by mail elections and voting center style polling places and reduce absentee voting.
- A proposed resolution calling for the chair of the Idaho Republican Party to file a lawsuit against the state in response to the Idaho Secretary of State’s Office not enforcing party affiliation deadlines that were not part of Idaho law, which the Sun has previously reported on.
- A proposed resolution establishing a committee to consider alternatives to primary elections.
- A resolution directing the chairperson of the Idaho Republican Party to send copies of the updated party platform to Republican candidates for office and have them indicate whether they support the platform, or identify any areas where they disagree.
- A resolution calling for the Idaho Republican Party to encourage the Idaho Legislature to make and pass bills that ban any vote by mail elections and voting center style polling places and reduce absentee voting.
The proposed resolutions, rules and platform changes will first be considered during committee meetings on Thursday that will not be open to new reporters.
The Idaho Democratic Party State Convention runs June 22 and June 23 at the University of Idaho in Moscow.
Idaho
Idaho resolution opposing same-sex marriage advances
For the second year in a row, House lawmakers will consider urging the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn its ruling legalizing same-sex marriage.
The nonbinding resolution, which carries no legal weight, says the decision in Obergefel v. Hodges violates the longstanding religious definition of marriage between one man and one woman.
“The current definition of marriage that allows for same-sex marriages is a defilement of the word marriage,” said Rep. Tony Wisniewski (R-Post Falls), who sponsors the measure.
The resolution further states that the Obergefel decision “arbitrarily and unjustly” rejects the historical definition of marriage.
Idaho voters passed a constitution amendment in 2006 that defines marriage as between one man and one woman, which was invalidated by the Obergefel ruling.
Wisniewski said regulating marriages should be a power left to the states.
Rep. Brent Crane (R-Nampa) agrees.
“If you want to get things … closer to the people with respect to some of these more complex social issues, I think the best place for those things to happen is in the states,” Crane said.
Doing so is a risk, he said.
“You may have states that choose to acknowledge [polyamorous relationships]. You may have states that choose to have relationships between adults and younger children,” Crane said.
Cities in neighboring Oregon and Washington, for example, are considering giving those in polyamorous relationships legal recognition.
But he said that risk is worth it to allow other states that choose to only recognize traditional marriages.
Four lawmakers on the House State Affairs Committee opposed the resolution.
Rep. Erin Bingham (R-Idaho Falls) said she’s tried to balance her own religious beliefs with those of others while considering the measure.
“I do feel like that it is important for us to work together, to find ways to compromise and to live together in peace and mutual respect,” Bingham said.
The resolution now goes to the House floor for consideration.
House lawmakers last year passed a similar measure, but it never received a hearing in a Senate committee.
Copyright 2026 Boise State Public Radio
Idaho
University of Idaho professor awarded $10M after TikTok tarot influencer claimed she ‘ordered’ quadruple murders
A University of Idaho professor won a $10 million judgment after a tarot TikTok influencer publicly pushed false claims that she was behind the savage quadruple slayings of four college students.
A Boise jury in US District Court ordered fortune-telling Texas TikToker Ashley Guillard on Friday to pay $10 million after concluding she falsely accused professor Rebecca Scofield of having a secret romance with one of the four victims and orchestrating their killings, the Idaho Statesman reported.
Following the verdict, Scofield thanked the jury and said she hopes the case sends a clear warning that making “false statements online have consequences in the real world.”
“The murders of the four students on November 13, 2022, were the darkest chapter in our university’s history,” Scofield told Fox News.
“Today’s decision shows that respect and care should always be granted to victims during these tragedies. I am hopeful that this difficult chapter in my life is over, and I can return to a more normal life with my family and the wonderful Moscow community.”
Scofield, the university’s history department chair, filed the lawsuit in December 2022 — just weeks after Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin were brutally stabbed to death at an off-campus rental home in Moscow, Idaho, on Nov. 13, 2022.
Guillard began uploading videos to her more than 100,000 TikTok followers in late November 2022, accusing Scofield of a secret relationship with one of the students and claiming she had “ordered” the killings, garnering millions of views across the social media platform.
The complaint states that Scofield had never met the victims and was out of state when the murders occurred.
Even after being served with cease-and-desist letters and after police publicly confirmed Scofield had no connection to the murders, the Houston-based tarot reader continued posting videos, the history professor’s legal team argued.
Guillard doubled down on her accusations against Scofield after being sued, posting a defiant video saying, “I am not stopping,” and challenging why Scofield needed three lawyers to sue her “if she’s so innocent.”
The professor’s legal team argued the defamatory accusations painted her as a criminal and accused her of professional misconduct that could derail her career.
Bryan Kohberger, then studying criminology at Washington State University, pleaded guilty in July 2025 to the quadruple murders in a deal that took the death penalty off the table. He is currently serving four consecutive life sentences in Idaho.
In June 2024, Chief US Magistrate Judge Raymond Patricco found Guillard’s statements legally defamatory, leaving damages to be decided by a jury.
During the damages trial, Scofield described the anguish of seeing her name tied to the murders online, the Idaho Statesman reported.
However, Guillard, acting as her own attorney, insisted her comments were simply beliefs based on tarot card readings.
She claimed to have psychic powers and testified that she relied on tarot cards to try to solve the shocking homicides that shook the rural college town and sparked global attention.
It took jurors less than two hours to return their verdict, the outlet reported.
The jury awarded Scofield $7.5 million in punitive damages in addition to $2.5 million in compensatory damages.
With Post wires
Idaho
Gas prices expected to exceed $3 as the Iran conflict prompts supply shortages
BOISE, Idaho — AAA is warning Idaho gas consumers that pump prices will likely rise as the conflict in Iran disrupts oil and gas supply chains worldwide.
The ongoing turmoil in the Middle East will likely push the price for a gallon of regular gasoline past the $3 mark over the coming days.
“On one hand, the crude oil market had time to account for some financial risk in the Middle East as forces mobilized, but a supply shortage somewhere affects the global picture,” says AAA Idaho public affairs director Matthew Conde. “If tankers can’t move products through the region, there could be ripple effects.”
On Monday, March 2, the average price for a gallon of regular gasoline is $2.97, reports AAA, which is 12 cents more expensive than it was a month ago but 20 cents less than this time last year.
State / Price: 1 gallon of regular gasoline
- Washington / $4.37
- Oregon / $3.92
- Nevada / $3.70
- Idaho / $2.97
- Colorado / $2.89
- Montana / $2.82
- Utah / $2.74
- Wyoming / $2.73
In terms of the most expensive fuel in the nation, Idaho currently ranks #14. However, buying a gallon of regular gas in neighboring states such as Oregon and Washington could cost a whole dollar more. In contrast, gas prices in Utah, Montana, and Wyoming are anywhere between 15 to 24 cents cheaper than fuel in the Gem State.
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