BINGHAM COUNTY, Idaho — A seventh district judge signed a temporary restraining order stopping the Idaho GOP from running a second election to fill the executive committee chairman vacancy of the Bingham County Republican Central Committee (BCRCC).
The BCRCC filed a lawsuit Thursday night against the Idaho GOP arguing their first election was in proper form; Idaho GOP Chairwoman Dorothy Moon declared the election invalid and scheduled a second election date for September 18 - now blocked by the TRO.
The BCRCC committee chairman position opened in July 13 after then-chairman Dan Cravens announced his resignation affective on August 1. The election to fill his vacancy was scheduled for the regular monthly meeting on July 20, according to the lawsuit.
BCRCC elected Matt Thompson to committee chairman. Thompson's election to a higher officer left two vacancies in his wake. BCRCC elected Jordan Johns to first-vice-chair and Ben Fuhriman to state committeeman in response.
"[Chairwoman Moon] waited until the 31st day to inform us that she thought we did it wrong. And therefore, as a state Chairwoman, it was her obligation to come and fix it," Fuhriman said. "Why didn't she reach out to us on the first day and say, 'Hey, you did something wrong.' So, you know, we have our suspicions. But the bottom line is we're not going to get bullied around to reorganize our committee. We do everything per our rules and the state rules, and we would just like to move forward with the business of the county."
The lawsuit addresses two concerns proposed by the complaint about the validity of the BCRCC election, that includes 'lack of notice' and 'violation of remote meeting rule.'
Cravens gave a 7-day notice before the election date, and the election date occurred within 30 days of the vacancy date. This fulfills both state and county bylaws, according to the lawsuit. The election date did occur before the vacancy date, however, neither state nor county rules specify the 30-day window must occur after the date of vacancy.
"Since there is no express prohibition on filling a vacancy in advance, the central committee’s apparent interpretation of the term 'within 30 days' to mean 30 days before or after was within its prerogative," the lawsuit said.
Moreover, the election meeting was conducted partially over a virtual Zoom call. State GOP party rules specify virtual calls must allow every participant to see and hear each other. The lawsuit admits the Zoom call had technical difficulties.
"However, the rules were nonetheless not broken," The lawsuit said.
Only one voting member was on the Zoom call; the committee did not count his attendance as result of the technical difficulties and he did not cast a vote, the lawsuit said.
"What's funny, too, that people need to understand is that the Central Committee is a state - created by statute - organization. The Republican Party is a private organization. I am an elected official, when we have an election, you can't nullify that election, there has to be an appeals process to go through that," Fuhriman said. "So, you know, Chairwoman Moon's idea that she's going to come in on Monday and have a special meeting and simply redo the election - it bypasses every single rule that we have."
Chairwoman Moon declared the BCRCC July election invalid through a September 5 email sent to the BCRCC, according to the lawsuit. Newly elected BCRCC Committee Chairman Matt Thompson filed an appeal with the Idaho GOP Judiciary Committee September 14 through First Vice Chairman Daniel Silver.
Silver wrote a letter to Chairwoman Moon dated September 14 informing her of the appeal and clarifying the BCRCC election she set for September 18 is not permitted.
The lawsuit is asking the court to direct the Idaho GOP to comply with the appeals process as written in the party rules and allow the BCRCC - as it currently stands - to conduct official business in the interim.
"There's a lot at stake as well in our county as we just recently learned our county prosecutors He resigned. And it falls on the Central Committee to nominate people to the commissioners to appoint a new prosecutor," Fuhriman said. "So, this isn't just politics. This is something that affects every person in Bingham County."
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