Rep. Lauren Necochea Our democracy works best when candidates and elected officials work hard to reach out to their constituents. Over the past few months, I have knocked on doors in Jerome, Hailey, Lapwai, Boise, Moscow and Pocatello.
I have learned a lot. First, I talked to many voters who identified as Republican but are either voting Democratic — or seriously considering it. At one door, a former Republican official who held office for many years told me their group of friends once always voted Republican.
Today, they’re all voting Democratic. They watch the Legislature closely and see a Republican Party that’s abandoned their values for extremism. The following week, I met someone who served in the Idaho Legislature as a Republican who is now a registered Democrat.
I spoke to a gentleman who moved here from a coastal city, partly due to the progressive politics there. Yet, he now sees the harms of Republican extremism in Idaho. He is considering joining his wife in voting Democratic.
Second, voters of both parties are supportive of LAUNCH scholarships. One Republican mom told me her daughter is attending college this year on a LAUNCH scholarship. She was concerned when I told her that her Republican legislator voted to defund it after scholarship awards were announced and that far right Republicans are trying to discontinue this route to good jobs.
A young man I met is enrolled in career training thanks to LAUNCH. He wasn’t registered to vote yet, but when I left.