Organization, recruitment are focus
BY ISAIAH FRIZZELL
With primary elections proceeding in several countries around the world, those in the United States are about to watch a changing of the top guard. The battle between red, blue and independent has been ferocious and the ultimate match arrives this November 5th. In our last issue, we brought the news of the Blaine County Republican Women’s (BCRW) group and their game-changing community updates. This week, the Blaine County Democrats (BCD) are in the spotlight, with Brent Robinson the Blaine County State Committeeman.
Enter Brent Robinson
Brent Robinson is a longtime Blaine County resident, having owned property in the Wood River Valley for nearly 40 years and lived here full time for the last 14 of those years. Robinson was president of several banks and previously held the position of treasurer for the BCD. It’s safe to say he knows finance and how it plays such a huge role in their organization. Finances are critical to all ventures and the ethics of finance ultimately define the organizational aptitude you see play out in the community.
Organization and recruitment is the primary strategy the Democratic Party wields. It’s in the language of their mission statement: ”Our goal is to recruit, elect, and support public officials who share our core democratic values. Join us in promoting progressive and effective policies for our county community. Working together, we will make Blaine County a safe and healthy environment for all” (blainecountydemocrats.org). With 16 Democratic precincts in Blaine County, each has a captain; 14 of the 16 precincts have captains serving presently while the BCD are recruiting new captains for Carey and Yale.
“Blaine County is part of Idaho District 26, which consists of three counties: Blaine, Lincoln and Jerome. We have state Senate positions occupied by Democrats and there are two positions in the Idaho House of Representatives who represent our district. One of the two is Ned Burns, who is a strong Democrat. The other is occupied by a Republican, Jack Nelson. We’re in the process of recruiting someone to run against Nelson on the Democratic side.”
The BCD are adamant about change and are working to effect it.
“It turns out that Blaine County is the bluest county in Idaho,” Robinson laughs, explaining how Blaine County, with a population of roughly 24,000, made blue waves in 2020. There were around 9,000 votes for Biden and 4,000 votes for Trump, churning over double in a landslide local victory. And what about the Independent voters? As Robinson exclaims, “The majority of the Independents vote Democratic.”
BCD Community Events
BCD members are active in the community with a number of upcoming events. They hold committee meetings every month and the next one will be at the Blaine County Courthouse in Hailey on March 25. The public is invited. On May 3 is the Clint & Michelle Stennett Social, which generally, Robinson says, results in a turnout of several hundred people.
One of the Idaho Democratic Party’s biggest fundraising events takes place on Saturday, March 9. The 30th Annual Frank and Bethine Church Gala kicks off at 5:30 p.m. on 850 West Front Street in Boise and it is a sold-out show. At the podium will be big names like Boise Mayor Lauren McLean, Idaho House of Representatives Minority Leader Ilana Rubel and Idaho Democratic Party Chair Lauren Necochea. The keynote speaker is Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman.
Key Issues
Robinson says the BCD are raising more money this year than they ever have as they have some serious concerns. “Women’s rights are so difficult in Idaho that we’re losing a great number of physicians from the state… doctors who provide care for women… they actually fly the women down to Utah where they can obtain an abortion. So we worry about that and the banning of books. We’re obviously very supportive of public school. We’re concerned about the effort in the Legislature to create vouchers for private schools, which will take money away from the rural schools. Most of Idaho is rural and there are no private schools in those counties. We’re still about 49th in the nation, but we have made some progress in the last couple of years.”
Currently, one of the biggest concerns of the Democratic Party is House Bill 415. Robinson refers to the bill, which encourages school faculty to carry concealed weapons purportedly in the interest of protecting children against school shootings. “In some places in Idaho there needs to be people who are armed but the training involved is around several weeks [to operate a firearm safely in a school environment] but this bill only requires around a three-hour training session and that’s frightening.”
Prime Time
The BCD as of last year have organizations in all 44 counties of Idaho. “There’s a group called the Blue Girls, a women’s organization, and they’re very active and successful in getting people involved; the Blaine County Democrats work closely with them. Through rallies and programs the Democrats are organized to fundraise and recruit.
“My parents were Republican and I grew up in southern Idaho, which was very Republican, but I think my family would not recognize the Republican Party these days.” Robinson echoes an often published sentiment that the Republican Party has been overrun by the far right. “It’s not all bad, obviously, but some of the legislation that is proposed and often passed is very far right. It’s become the Trump Party, rather than the Republican Party, in my opinion.”
As most readers know, due to changes in the Legislature in Idaho, there will be no presidential primary. Instead, both parties will have to run their own caucus and, according to BCD, “count their own votes, and follow the rules of their own party” (blainecountydemocrats.org). This time it’s up to the party leaders to find the organizational passion to get the job done.
Switcheroo
When asked about the switching of sides to change the vote, which was advertised in a Lincoln County paper, “Hey, 5B Democrats, be sure to register as a Republican prior to March 11 so that you can vote for the least offensive candidate. As you know, the Democratic candidate won’t stand a chance in the general election.”
Robinson laughs. “There’s certainly no formal effort by anyone to get people to switch parties, but It does happen, probably in both directions, but [that was] mainly Democrats who wanted to vote for Governor Little versus one of his opponents. And so they do that occasionally.”
All’s fair in love and politics.
Check out their website at https://blainecountydemocrats.org/ and if you’re interested, show up at the county courthouse in Hailey on March 25. You can be sure the BCD will have a strong presence and the invite is open to all.