BOISE, Idaho — This article originally appeared in the Idaho Press.
A 7th Court District Judge on Tuesday morning blocked the Idaho Republican Party from holding a special meeting to elect a new chair of the Bingham County Republican Central Committee in an ongoing legal battle over the county committee’s elections.
The Bingham County GOP and its chairman Matt Thompson sued in September to stop Idaho GOP Chairwoman Dorothy Moon from holding a meeting to elect new members to the BCRCC executive committee after she claimed its election was void. The BCRCC is represented by Caldwell attorney and former state representative Greg Chaney.
The preliminary injunction will be in place until the BCRCC’s appeal with the Idaho Republican Party has run its full course, according to the court order.
The issue arose this summer when the county party’s former chairman Dan Cravens announced his intention to resign effect Aug. 1, the Idaho State Journal reported.
Cravens gave notice on July 13 that there would be an election to fill his vacancy on July 20. Thompson was elected as the new Bingham GOP chairman, Jordan Johns was selected as first vice chair, and Ben Fuhriman as BCRCC state committeeman.
On July 27, the Idaho GOP received an unsigned grievance against the BCRCC, alleging the election violated party rules and bylaws. Moon sent letters to the Bingham County GOP alleging that it didn’t follow party rules in electing its officers and said the election was void. She tried to call a special meeting to select new party officers.
The party said the election violated a number of rules, including one that prohibits elections to occur before the positions are vacant. The Bingham County GOP filed an appeal, which it argues should have stopped the planned Sept. 18 meeting to pick new officers.
Court documents show that after Thompson emailed Moon the BCRCC’s appeal of the meeting, she responded, “Hello Matt, The meeting on September 18 is still scheduled. We will see you there. Thank you.”
The BCRCC sued to stop the special meeting, arguing that Moon did not have the authority to declare the initial election void.
District Judge Darren Simpson on Sept. 15 granted the request to block a meeting scheduled for Sept. 18. Simpson heard oral arguments at a hearing on Sept. 28, the Idaho State Journal reported.
Moon told the court it had been her intention to respect the appeal and that she did not read the email with the appeal attached on Sept. 14.
Simpson wrote in the order that, despite Moon’s declared intentions, “the prior course of conduct by Chairwoman Moon underscores the BCRCC’s mistrust of Chairwoman Moon.”
The judge order said the BCRCC, “has shown that it has a clear right to appeal Chairwoman Moon’s decision to void the BCRCC’s chairman election. The BCRCC has also shown that it will suffer irreparable harm if its appeal is ignored.”
The next step in the BCRCC's appeal will take place at the Idaho GOP's meeting in January, according to Chaney.
He said in an emailed statement of the judge's decision, "I’m very appreciative that the Court saw through Moon’s attempt to rewrite history and rejected her assertion that she wouldn’t have gone through with the reorganization had she know about the appeal. It's unfortunate we have to get the district court involved, but I'm grateful the Court granted the relief it did today."
The Idaho GOP did not respond to a request for comment by press time.
This article originally appeared in the Idaho Press, read more on IdahoPress.com.
Join 'The 208' conversation:
- Text us at (208) 321-5614
- E-mail us at the208@ktvb.com
- Join our The 208 Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/the208KTVB/
- Follow us on Twitter: @the208KTVB or tweet #the208 and #SoIdaho
- Follow us on Instagram: @the208KTVB
- Bookmark our landing page: /the-208
- Still reading this list? We're on YouTube, too:
HERE ARE MORE WAYS TO GET NEWS FROM KTVB:
Download the KTVB News Mobile App
Apple iOS: Click here to download
Google Play: Click here to download
Watch news reports for FREE on YouTube: KTVB YouTube channel
Stream Live for FREE on ROKU: Add the channel from the ROKU store or by searching 'KTVB'.
Stream Live for FREE on FIRE TV: Search ‘KTVB’ and click ‘Get’ to download.