On election night, former Ada County Republican leaders who resigned en masse last year didn’t attend Idaho Republicans’ official watch party . Instead, they hosted an invite-only gathering for Republican candidates they’d endorsed at Top Golf in Meridian — just a mile from the Idaho GOP’s party at the Courtyard by Marriott — and maxed out their event’s capacity.
The alternative event’s popularity was the culmination of a year’s worth of mobilizing, the former GOP leaders said. When they stepped down, the six Ada County Republican Party’s officers cited decisions by the state party that made it “impossible” to lead effectively , the Idaho Statesman reported at the time. So they quickly formed a political action committee, the Idaho Majority Club , and got to work raising money. By November, they had raised about $215,000.
The club aims to change the tenor of Republican politics in Idaho, its members told the Statesman on election night. When the county party’s leaders resigned from their positions, they complained of “un-Republican” bullying tactics and an overly controlling approach. That included a rule that forced voters previously affiliated with another party to wait a year before registering as a Republican, and one that allowed party committees to censure elected Republicans who strayed from the party line, the Statesman reported .