13 hours Ago By Idaho Statesman
National Democrats announced they would invest money in political organizing efforts in Idaho’s Native American and Latino communities ahead of the November election. The Democratic National Committee, the leaders of the Democratic Party, announced a $70,000 investment in the Idaho Democratic Party on Friday. The state party, which applied for the funds, will use the money to help pay for two minority voter organizers and get-out-the-vote strategies.
The money is a slice of a $2.5 million cash infusion the Democratic Party has recently invested in 24 states. So far this year, the DNC has put money into all 57 U.
S. state and territorial parties. The funding comes as Idaho Democrats are looking to chip away at Republicans’ supermajority in the Legislature, running .
The state party’s efforts have previously been supported by national Democrats like the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, which in May endorsed candidate Mary Shea, who is running in a competitive Pocatello House race. She has raised more than $41,000 this year. DNC Chair Jaime Harrison said in a news release that the funds were to ensure “Democrats have the resources to run competitive races.
” “Idaho Democrats will ensure working families can get ahead, while standing up to (Republican presidential candidate Donald) Trump and Republicans’ extreme agenda to rip away Americans’ most fundamental rights,” Harrison said. The $70,000 will be used to pay salaries for two party organizers — one looking to bolster turnout on the Nez Perce Reservation, a second focusing on Latino voters in Central Idaho — and fund other campaign efforts, party Chair Lauren Necochea told the Idaho Statesman. As of August, Idaho Democrats have raised $1.
4 million this year, she said. “This $70,000 investment is a substantial boost to our efforts to turn out every registered Democrat, and to make the case to independent voters and Republicans that having more Democrats in the Legislature, in county leadership, will lead to better outcomes for Idaho families,” Necochea said. She pointed to Gov.
Brad Little’s LAUNCH program to give career training scholarships to graduating high school seniors, which a majority of Republicans opposed funding and would not have passed without Democratic support. In particular, Democrats have focused on tight races in District 6 and District 26. In District 6, which includes Lewiston, Moscow and much of the Nez Perce Reservation, Republican Lori McCann is defending her House seat in a repeat race against Trish Carter-Goodheart, a member of the Nez Perce Tribe.
Carter-Goodheart, who entered the race about 60 days before the election in 2022 as a replacement candidate and lost by 10 points, told the Statesman that the extra time this cycle has allowed her more chances to connect with voters. She said she’s focused on pushing for more public school funding, countering tax policies that benefit wealthy people and repealing the state’s strict abortion ban. “I’m finding more moderate Republicans, independent voters, that think exactly like us,” she said.
“They’re tired, they’re frustrated and they’re scared, and we don’t want to have community members that are fearful any longer.” Carter-Goodheart said tribal members have seen the Republican Party shift from fiscal conservatism to an “extreme” agenda in support of Trump, pointing to abortion laws that have pushed pregnant people facing medical complications to be airlifted to hospitals outside the state. “With a Republican-led majority (in office), we are seeing what they’re doing with their power,” she said, adding that she is the first Nez Perce tribal member to run for legislative office.
“There have been gatekeepers keeping out voices just like mine,” she added, noting that recent redistricting and changes to election laws have left some tribal voters confused about what district they live in. McCann, her opponent, was first elected in 2022 and is running on a campaign platform aiming to moderate some Republican positions. She told the Statesman she supports adding a health exception to the state’s abortion ban, which prohibits the procedure in nearly all cases.
She also said she supports passing legislation to affirmatively protect in vitro fertilization. Both issues are topics that a majority of Idaho Republican lawmakers have not agreed with her on. McCann also said she supports gun rights and more funding for education.
“I often have found myself on some of these issues not always exactly aligned 100% with our current GOP,” McCann said. ‘If they’ve got a Democrat running against them, they’d better take it seriously’ Necochea pointed to investments in the Nez Perce Tribe that have come during the Biden administration. This summer, the tribe was awarded a from the EPA to make energy efficiency and clean energy investments on the reservation.
The grant program uses funds from the Inflation Reduction Act, one of Biden’s signature bills. Annella Tucker, a 22-year-old Democratic organizer who is also a member of the Nez Perce Tribe, told the Statesman that she’s been attending events and explaining to residents how to register to vote. Her campaign position is one of the two supported by the new funding.
Democrats have been making recent “infrastructure investments in Indian country,” she said. “The Democratic Party has already been pushing forward on different initiatives that help us.” As she sends mailers and calls voters, McCann said, she plans to knock on doors on the reservation and has a “good working relationship there.
” “Republicans sometimes think they can sit back in the general (election),” she said. “But my big recommendation to any Republican, if they’ve got a Democrat running against them, they’d better take it seriously, because the Democrats are energized this round.” In Central Idaho, Democrats are focused on competitive races in District 26, which includes Blaine, Lincoln and Jerome counties.
In 2022, two House races were decided by slim margins: Rep. Ned Burns, D-Bellevue, won his race by 37 votes, and Rep. Jack Nelsen, R-Jerome, won by 84 votes.
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