BOISE, Idaho — This article originally appeared in the Idaho Press.
Longtime Idaho Senate leader Chuck Winder was ousted in the Republican primary election for District 20.
His challenger, Josh Keyser, earned 52% of the vote, according to unofficial election results with 193 of 197 precincts reporting. Winder had 47% of the vote as of 10:45 p.m.
Keyser did not immediately respond to calls and a text from the Idaho Press.
The result was a surprise for the incumbent lawmaker.
"I knew it would be close, but I thought I would win," Winder told the Idaho Press.
Winder has served eight terms, or around 16 years, in the Senate.
Keyser said on his campaign website that he was a vice principal at a private Christian school in the Treasure Valley. He had been a Boise Police Department trainee, who in 2019 filed a tort claim against the city alleging that he was told to resign or be fired.
Keyser filed the suit, but his case was dismissed before it went to a jury trial in 2021, BoiseDev reported.
Keyser on his website named as some of his top values, “individual freedom,” “personal health care,” and “financial security.” He also said he wanted to support parental choice for education, protect “vulnerable” people from sexual violence, and support for emergency services.
He grew up outside of Los Angeles in the San Fernando Valley and served in the Marine Corps. Keyser said he moved to Boise in 2018. He'll face Democrat Andy Arriaga in the November election; Arriaga ran unopposed in the primary.
Winder, who was the Senate president pro tempore, was the target of misleading robocalls that used manipulated recordings of his voice, the Idaho Press previously reported.
He’d been attacked by texts from well-funded Virginia-based political action committee Make Liberty Win.
Winder clashed with some members of the ultra-conservative Freedom Caucus, including removing Sen. Brian Lenney from his committee leadership position for allegedly degrading other members of the Senate and the public. He's also been critical of the influential conservative think tank, the Idaho Freedom Foundation.
Winder said he believes his opposition to the IFF helped fuel the strong push against him.
Winder formerly served on the Ada County Highway District Commission and as the chair of the Idaho Transportation Board.
He was a strong opponent of the Legislature’s move this year to tank a planned sale of Idaho Transportation Department's vacant headquarters campus in the agency’s budget bill. The budget eventually passed and the move was challenged in court.
Winder congratulated Keyser on his win, but cautioned that "Idaho politics is changing."
"I think we've had a huge influence from out-of-state people moving here," he said. "... All in all, Idaho is going to be fine, but good mainline Idaho people are going to have to get more involved in the party."
This article originally appeared in the Idaho Press, read more on IdahoPress.com.
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