Greetings Liberty Lovers-
Just as sure as the sun comes up in the east and sets in the west, the Republican establishment can be counted on to do whatever it takes to keep their power. The December Twin Falls County Republican Central Committee and the establishment “good ol’ boys” did not fail to disappoint.
The TFCRCC started with finding a replacement for precinct Filer1. As you remember, Filer1 originally elected Adrian Arp in the May 2024 primary. When Adrian passed away, the establishment appointed Diana Cates. Don’t hold me to it, but I think she only attended a couple of meetings and then gave her resignation. So, in establishment fashion, they found another replacement and Melissa Barry was appointed.
We then moved onto the main event of the night. Since Commissioner Don Hall received the nod from Governor Little to become a state representative to finish Lance Clow’s term, Hall resigned his position as TFC County Commissioner. It then becomes the forty-four Precinct Committeemen of the Central Committee’s responsibility to find the best three nominees to send up to Governor Little to fill the vacant commissioner seat. While the nominees must live in district 2 of Twin Falls County, the county at large gets to vote.
First up, no surprise, it was ex-Twin Falls Mayor, Suzanne Hawkins. I know through a reliable source, who shall not be named, that Suzanne always had her eye on higher power. She wanted to run for U.S. Representative, for Mike Simpson’s seat. Now I’m not sure if she wanted to take Simpson head on, or if Simpson was going to step down, but either way, she ditched those aspirations recently. While it’s not on the national stage, Twin Falls County Commissioner position isn’t half bad.
If you remember from one of my last articles when we had to find a replacement for Lance Clow, the nominees have certain criteria they must meet; live in the district, be a registered Republican, and meet an age requirement. After that, they must hand their résumé out to the PC’s, give a short speech to the Central Committee, and then answer some questions. This is the same criteria the hopefuls had to do to throw their hat into the ring for County Commissioner. Sounds pretty easy, right?
Now, of course, Susie Hawkins had her ducks in a row and that’s exactly what happened. She sent out her résumé before the meeting and then handed out another copy at the meeting. Susie gave a two-minute speech and then answered a few questions.
Char Alexander, PC for TF19, nominated former Idaho State representative, Greg Lanting. Unfortunately, Lanting was not there; but hey, what does that mean to a bunch of people who think they don’t have to follow the rules? Everyone seemed fine with allowing Lanting to be the second nominee, but not your girl, Leslie. I had to remind everyone that it was just a few weeks ago there was a gentleman who wanted to be considered for Clow’s position but was not allowed the opportunity because he could not be there in person.
Of course, in true “good ol’ boy fashion” a couple people stood up and said that they felt that Lanting is a good person and because of the short notice of the meeting, he could not be there. I then stood up and asked if he had sent his résumé. Prosecuting attorney, Grant Loebs, then took the opportunity to inform us that indeed “Leslie was correct,” that they did not let the gentleman in Clow’s nominations be considered, but Greg Lanting had got on a plane this morning to go on vacation and while he actually sent his résumé to Grant, he couldn’t open the file. I restated my objection to using former Representative Lanting as a nominee and was quickly over road by a majority of establishment members that allowed the nomination to stand.
Char Alexander then nominated a third person, Anne Reid. Looking around, I’m wondering who Anne Reid is when Chris Reid, Precinct Committeeman for TF18 acknowledges that it’s his wife. Chris continued to inform us that she could not be there, and she did not send a résumé. Once again, I stood up to voice my concerns. I was met by a disgruntled Central Committee groan, which usually means I should sit down and be quiet, because they don’t want to follow the rules. Chris was asked to stand up and speak on his wife’s behalf. While Chris spoke about his wife, he gave her background and how she stepped back from working outside of the home once they had started having children and then listed the ages of all their children. I asked if she was going to be able to work the hours that are required as a commissioner. Commissioners do not just work 8a to 5p, they have early morning meetings, evening meetings, and do have to travel. He assured me that she was ready for the task, and she could handle it.
There were a few other PCs who stood up and voiced their concerns, these people are applying for a job that pays six figures a year, yet they couldn’t be bothered to show up for one meeting. It didn’t matter; Mrs. Reid was also listed as a nominee.
We started voting via secret ballot. During round one, you were supposed to write down your number one choice. No surprise when the results came back as Suzanne Hawkins. Round two, we had to write our second choice; Greg Lanting was the second-choice nominee. It’s at this point that someone pipes up and suggests that since we only have one nominee left, we could just skip the third round of voting. The Chairman, Tom Wangeman, decided it would be in the best interest to keep everything clean by voting for the third spot.
Here is where I need to emphasis that a lot of the precinct committee people that were actually there, do not come every month. They usually just hold a place as PC and give their proxy for any votes that take place. The only time they do have to attend is when there is a vote to fill a vacancy. The vacancy can be a precinct committeeman, a county elected official, or a state elected official. These PCs do not want to be there a minute longer than they actually have to be there, so instead of just taking the few more minutes like we’re supposed to and write down the third person‘s name on a piece of paper and then have them picked up and tallied, it was then decided we would just do a voice vote, which of course, I was maybe one of just a couple that voted no against Anne Reid. My reason for voting no… Mrs. Reid did not fulfill the qualifications by being there and submitting a resume. Anne Reid did get the final nominee position.
With that, the meeting was adjourned.
Now, does anyone actually believe that the other nominees were even trying to get the job? It was the same as when the nominees for Clow’s position were determined; the establishment chose who would be anointed, umm I mean appointed, and then a couple of fill-ins to get to the three needed to send to Little. Honestly, does that sound like we are trying to get the most qualified applicants to fill the positions? Also, tell me this… how hard did the Republican party reach out to our community to inform them that an opening was being filled? It is not hard to understand why voters get frustrated with political parties; I am a proud Republican, but I loathe the “politics” that are played here with the establishment. The foundation of the Republican party, and our Nation, was not built to be run by the upper echelons; it was founded by “We the People” for the people.
To all those who believe in the Republican party but hate what it has become, there is a way to send a message to the “good ol’ boys” who have perverted our politics…
Stay tuned for my next article