Idaho
Election 2024: Biden wins Idaho Democratic Party’s presidential caucus • Idaho Capital Sun
President Joe Biden cruised to victory in Thursday’s Idaho Democratic Caucus, claiming 95% of the votes to win the six-candidate caucus outright, the Idaho Democratic Party announced.
Results released late Thursday night by the Idaho Democratic Party showed Biden won more votes than all the other candidates combined.
- Biden: 2,297 votes, 95%
- David Olscamp: 14 votes, 0.5%
- Jason Palmer: five votes, 0.2%
- Armando Perez-Serrato: three votes, 0.1%
- Dean Phillips: 14 votes, 0.5%
- Marianne Williamson: 79 votes, 3.28%
The Idaho Democratic Party reported there were 2,412 votes cast in Thursday’s caucus.
A total of 2,412 votes means turnout was exceedingly low on Thursday. However, calculating the percentage of voter turnout could be tricky because Democrats and unaffiliated voters were allowed to vote in the caucus.
The Idaho Secretary of State’s Office reports there are 125,585 registered Democratic voters in the state. Based only on the pool of 125,585 Democratic voters, turnout could be calculated at about 1.9%, but that calculation would ignore the fact that some unaffiliated voters did vote in the Democratic caucus. The Democratic Party did not indicate the number of unaffiliated voters who cast ballots Thursday.
Across the Gem State, there are 273,862 unaffiliated voters, according to the Idaho Secretary of State’s Office.
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At any rate, Biden’s victory was never in doubt. As the incumbent president, Biden had already secured enough delegates to clinch the Democratic Party’s nomination for president.
The presidential caucus is new for Idaho voters this year because the Idaho Legislature seemingly unintentionally eliminated the presidential primary election in Idaho by passing House Bill 138 during the 2023 legislative session. The Idaho Republican Party held its presidential caucus on March 2. The Idaho Republican Party announced that former President Donald J. Trump won Idaho’s GOP caucus.
Voters, officials say they prefer a primary election rather than a presidential caucus
Several Democratic caucus goers and elected officials told the Idaho Capital Sun that they would prefer to vote for president in a primary election instead of a separate caucus.
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“It seems pretty easy, but I don’t know why we have primaries and a caucus,” voter Sally Davies-Sexton told the Idaho Capital Sun after casting her vote for Biden at the Timberline High School caucus site in Boise on Thursday. “It’s just having two events, and then this is not exactly around the corner.”
Idaho’s primary election, which did not feature presidential candidates, took place earlier in the week on Tuesday.
Voter Mary Ruckh has volunteered as a poll worker and served as a chief elections judge at a polling site during Tuesday’s Idaho primary election. Ruckh rode her bicycle to the Timberline High School caucus site to vote for Biden, but said she would have preferred to vote in a primary election. Primary elections are run by county elections offices and the state, while a caucus is run by the political parties.
“A primary – it’s so much more structured, it’s under the egis of government,” Ruckh said.
Ruckh did say this year’s Democratic presidential caucus was a major improvement over the most recent Democratic caucus in 2016, which was marred by long lines that many voters endured for hours.
Idaho House Minority Leader Ilana Rubel, D-Boise, told the Sun on Thursday that the Idaho Legislature needs to reinstate a presidential primary.
“We very much wanted a primary, because we were really concerned about the limitations on a caucus and whether that would restrict full participation,” Rubel said.
“I certainly hope before the next presidential race that we are able to restore a primary,” Rubel added.
Idaho Democratic Party rules allowed voters who will turn 18 years old by the Nov. 5 general election to register to vote and vote in Thursday’s presidential caucus.
Kennedy Fletcher, a 17-year-old first-time voter, received a round of applause from Democratic volunteers and other voters when she turned in her ballot Thursday night at Timberline High School. Fletcher told the Sun she is supporting Biden because of the clear differences between him and Trump.
“I like getting involved politically. I know who I am going to vote for and everything, and I am really excited to vote in the actual presidential election,” Fletcher said.
Idaho Democratic Party Chair Lauren Necochea, who is also the outgoing House assistant minority leader, said she wasn’t surprised to see Biden perform strongly in Thursday’s caucus. Necochea said the party will unify strongly behind Biden heading into the Nov. 5 Election Day.
“President Biden is the only person who has beaten President Trump in a presidential election,” Necochea said.
Idaho Democrats allowed absentee voting, media coverage
While the Idaho Republican Party’s March 2 caucus required voters to participate only in person, the Idaho Democratic Party allowed voters request and mail in an absentee ballot if they were unable to attend due to military or religious service, work, disability, illness, child care obligations or the inability to travel.
The Idaho Democratic Party also allowed news reporters to observe the caucus and interview voters. The Idaho Republican Party did not allow news reporters who are not affiliated with the Republican Party to observe its caucus.
Idaho
U of Idaho murder suspect Bryan Kohberger investigated in 2nd home invasion attack
Idaho
Bryan Kohberger investigated over nearby home invasion year before alleged slayings of 4 University of Idaho students
Idaho murder suspect Bryan Kohberger was once investigated in connection to a chilling home invasion that took place mere miles from where he allegedly slaughtered four college students inside their off-campus housing in 2022, according to a new report.
New information about the accused killer comes after ABC News obtained bodycam footage of police responding to a suspected home invasion in nearby Pullman, Wash., in October 2021 — more than a year before the University of Idaho students were stabbed to death.
“I heard my door open and I looked over, and someone was wearing a ski mask and had a knife,” a frightened woman told police.
“I kicked the s–t out of their stomach and screamed super loud, and they like flew back into my closet and then ran out my door and up the stairs.”
The alleged incident — which took place just 10 miles from the gruesome slayings in Moscow, Idaho — happened at 3:30 a.m., the woman told police, adding that the masked intruder was silent the whole time.
Her roommate immediately called the police, the outlet reported, but the case was left unsolved as police were left without a suspect or evidence at the time.
The terrifying incident shared eerie similarities with the gruesome quadruple University of Idaho murders.
Kohberger, 29, is accused of butchering students Ethan Chapin, 20, Xana Kernodle, 20, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, and Madison Mogen, 21, around 4 a.m. inside their off-campus house on Nov. 13, 2022.
A surviving housemate later told police she saw a masked man with “bushy eyebrows” fleeing the house after overhearing cries and sounds of a struggle.
Kohberger, a criminology Ph.D. student at Washington State University, was arrested at his parents’ Pennsylvania home on Dec. 30 and charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary — charges he has since pleaded not guilty.
Thirteen days later he was named a person of interest in the Pullman case, ABC reported, but is no longer considered a suspect.
“We have no reason or evidence to believe he was involved in this burglary at this time,” Pullman police told the outlet, citing a height difference between the alleged attackers.
While Kohberger is 6 feet tall, the alleged attacker in the Pullman incident was described as being 5’3′ to 5’5′. The accused stabber was also not yet enrolled at Washington State University at the time of the 2021 incident, the outlet reported.
The case is now closed but remains unsolved, police said.
“My family and I have been frustrated that the case was not investigated more in-depth or resolved,” the victim in the break-in told the outlet.
Kohberger’s highly anticipated trial is slated to begin in August and last through November.
The lengthy trial, which was moved to Idaho’s capital of Boise, will include two phases — one to determine his guilt or innocence, and the other, if he’s found guilty, to determine whether he should receive the death penalty.
Idaho
Bryan Kohberger probed for home invasion year before Idaho student murders
Bryan Kohberger, the suspect in the Idaho quadruple murder case, was once investigated in connection with a home invasion in Pullman, Washington. This opens many doors for a flock of questions.
Who is Bryan Kohberger?
Kohberger, a 28-year-old PhD criminology student at Washington State University, was arrested weeks after the Idaho murders at his parents’ home in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania. He now faces four first-degree murder charges and a felony burglary charge. Prosecutors allege Kohberger meticulously planned the attack, stalking the victims’ off-campus rental home prior to the killings.
The Pullman home invasion occurred in October 2021, just 10 miles from Moscow, Idaho, where four college students were brutally stabbed to death in November 2022. Newly released body camera footage cited by ABC News provides a bodycam footage of the break-in that left a young woman traumatized and fearing for her life.
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“I heard my door open and I looked over, and someone was wearing a ski mask and had a knife,” the woman told officers in the footage, her voice trembling. “I kicked the s*** out of their stomach and screamed super loud. They flew back into my closet and then ran out my door and up the stairs.”
Kohberger named person of interest in Pullman case after Idaho murders
The alleged attack happened around 3:30 a.m. The masked intruder, who carried a knife, entered her bedroom silently. Despite her quick reaction and her roommate’s immediate call to 911, police found no trace of the suspect or any physical evidence.
Just over a year later, on November 13, 2022, the town of Moscow, Idaho, was shaken by the brutal murders of Madison Mogen, 21; Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Ethan Chapin, 20. Survivors in the home described a masked man with “bushy eyebrows” fleeing after hearing cries and the sounds of a violent struggle.
Thirteen days after the Idaho murders, Kohberger was named a person of interest in the Pullman case. The eerie similarities between the two incidents—both involving a masked intruder, a knife, and nighttime break-ins—drew immediate attention. However, authorities later clarified that Kohberger is no longer considered a suspect in the Pullman case.
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Despite initial suspicions, critical differences between the Pullman and Moscow cases ultimately ruled out Kohberger’s involvement in the earlier incident. The victim of the Pullman break-in described the intruder as 5’3” to 5’5”, while Kohberger stands six feet tall.
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