How Party Bosses Are Replacing Republicans Who Think For Themselves
Elected Republicans are being pushed out by unelected party leaders in a coordinated campaign to seize power and silence dissent.
Rep. Lori McCann won more votes than any other lawmaker in her legislative district last election. A lifelong Republican from Lewiston, she listens to constituents, votes her conscience, and represents more than 52,000 Idahoans from all walks of life.
Now, her own party is preparing to punish her.
On June 30, Republican leaders in District 6 will hold a closed “platform enforcement” hearing against McCann. The hearing, authorized by a party rule known as Article XX, allows local party officials to censure Republican lawmakers for not aligning closely enough with the Idaho GOP platform. While the penalty is technically symbolic, this is no empty gesture. It is part of a larger political operation designed to push out thoughtful conservatives and replace them with loyal ideologues.
McCann is being targeted for voting against a handful of bills championed by the far-right: one diverting public education funds to private schools, another demanding the U.S. Supreme Court overturn same-sex marriage, and a bill prohibiting SNAP recipients from buying soda and candy. These were not rash decisions. McCann said she considered the constitutional and fiscal consequences and voted in line with her district’s values. She noted that her colleague, Sen. Dan Foreman, voted the same way on at least one of the bills and has not been targeted.
Forman received significant help from the Citizens Alliance of Idaho after he told a native American woman to “go back to where she came from.”
“I represent the people of District 6, not the party bosses or the Idaho Freedom Foundation,” McCann said in an Idaho Press article. “The people elected me to do a job, and that is exactly what I am doing.”
She’s not alone. In 2024, Rep. Stephanie Mickelsen of Idaho Falls was censured twice by her local committee, then won re-election handily. “Honestly, it didn’t hurt me,” Mickelsen said. “More people thank me for standing up for the community than want me to follow party pressure.” She added that the party platform has become less a set of shared ideals and more a checklist for ideological purity.
That shift didn’t happen on its own. It’s the product of a well-organized strategy.
The far-right wing of the Idaho GOP, aligned closely with the Idaho Freedom Foundation, is systematically taking control of the party from the inside. Their playbook is simple: drive out anyone who thinks for themselves, then fill the vacuum with operatives trained to obey. This effort is not about serving constituents or crafting good policy. It is about seizing power, one meeting at a time.
In Ada County, that strategy is playing out in real time.
Vice Chair Ryan Spoon and Chairman Thad Butterworth have turned the Ada County Republican Central Committee into a toxic and exclusionary space. Their meetings have become hostile, combative, and unwelcoming. For those who speak out or simply try to walk away, the consequences can be immediate.
Both Spoon and Butterworth are aligned with the IFF political machine and have targeted two Republican legislators from Meridian: Rep. James Petzke and Sen. Treg Bernt.
Petzke and Bernt are not fringe figures. They are thoughtful, principled conservatives who have tried to bring policy discussions back to facts and results. For that, they are being punished. Both now face removal from their precinct officer positions in Ada County. The reason? They missed a few party meetings during the legislative session — absences that occurred while they were in legislative session, doing the jobs voters elected them to do.
“It’s disappointing to see the Ada County Republican Central Committee trying to override the will of the people,” Bernt said to Political Potatoes. “I was elected by thousands of voters in District 21 to serve Meridian, and I take that responsibility seriously. My focus will remain on doing the job I was elected to do, not playing political games. That’s what my constituents expect, and that’s what they deserve.”
Sen. Bernt says he never received a letter from the party informing him he was in the process of being removed from his PC position. The party secretary refused to answer his inquiry on this subject, just as the ACRCC would not answer questions after I emailed them about Bernt and Petzke’s removals, straight out of the IFF playbook of refusing to answer any questions and face accountability.
But the internal party attacks are only one part of the pressure campaign.
Outside the committee meetings, both Petzke and Bernt have also been targeted by primary challengers recruited and supported by the same far-right political machine.
These aren't grassroots challenges. They are coordinated efforts designed to force compliance through fear. Suppose a legislator doesn't follow the demands of the IFF network. In that case, they'll face a well-funded opponent, often promoted by operatives who received “confrontational politics” training from Idaho Dispatch propagandist Greg Pruett. They then outsource the campaign work to the Citizens Alliance of Idaho, where money flows to a Florida marketing company to deploy out-of-state door-to-door canvassers to spread IFF-engineered narratives that align with legislation their side has concocted to use against their targeted enemies. The Florida-based marketing company is also owned by the same person as the parent organization, Citizens Alliance of America, which provides funding to Citizens Alliance of Idaho.
This is not a representative democracy. It is authoritarian behavior disguised as grassroots efforts.
The far-right playbook follows a predictable pattern. First, they make party central committee meetings so toxic and miserable that any reasonable Republican no longer wants to attend. Then, they change the rules, punish absences, and begin removing publicly elected precinct officers. With those seats empty, they install loyalists. These new insiders are then used to prop up state party leaders, such as Dorothy Moon and Bryan Smith — figures who have lost at the ballot box but gain control by shaping the internal party structure.
Once they control enough precinct seats and county committees, they weaponize that control to censure legislators, threaten their ability to run again as Republicans, and funnel primary support to their replacements. Meanwhile, they flood the Legislature with outrage-driven bills that do little for everyday Idahoans but stir up fear and resentment. These bills are then used as loyalty tests and campaign material. The end goal is to build a majority large enough to pass legislation that benefits their donors and consolidates long-term control.
We are witnessing the transformation of a state political party into a command structure — one that resembles a hardline central committee from a communist country we would never want to emulate.
In Kootenai County, the script is the same. A grieving precinct officer missed a few meetings after the loss of her husband and was removed without public discussion. Another precinct officer who spoke in her defense was ousted. Both were part of a local group, the North Idaho Republicans, who are trying to bring balance back to the party in a region where IFF Chairman Brent Regan has ruled with little accountability.
In Bonneville County, IFF board member and former LD Chairman Doyle Beck tried to censure Rep. Mickelsen, but voters had seen enough. His allies were voted out, and for the first time in years, the county GOP is no longer under his control. That’s what happens when voters pay attention.
But if they don’t, the purge will continue.
This is not the path of a principled Republican party. It is the strategy of a machine that punishes independent thought, rewards obedience, and pushes fear-based politics to create power for a few at the expense of everyone else.
Idaho deserves better. But unless more voters demand it, this is what we get.
About the Author
Gregory Graf is the creator of Political Potatoes and a lifelong conservative Republican. His articles often criticize the hypocrisy committed by far-right grifters who’ve taken control of the GOP. Graf is the CEO of Snake River Strategies, a strategic communications and political consulting firm based in Eagle, Idaho. You can follow Graf’s work on X, Threads, or Facebook.
Disclaimer
The following is intended to convey an opinion on newsworthy events of public concern regarding public figures and/or public officials in exercising their official duties. No implications or inferences—beyond those explicitly stated in the preceding— are intended to be conveyed or endorsed by the Author. Wherever available, hyperlinks have been provided to allow readers to directly access any underlying assertions of fact upon which this opinion is based.
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Sadly, by the time voters wake up and get around to noticing what the radicals are up to, it’s too late. I’m hoping that voters will notice what the radicals just did on close-to-home, pocketbook issues this past session and vote them out in 2026.
A girl can dream, can’t she?
Greg, keep the spotlight on the bad actors in Idaho’s GOP. We are making progress; voters are more and more becoming receptive to our fact-filled messages.