Now this is some funny shit---they really have some wacky types in North Idaho! The amusing part of this is that Idaho is overwhelmingly Republican and the dems have no power anyway.
cdapress.com
The Kootenai County Republican Central Committee has reportedly planned and recruited volunteers to infiltrate the Kootenai Democrats, install an “antisemitic troll” as party chair and funnel money donated to Democrats to local Republicans instead.
A recorded phone call between Kootenai County resident John Grimm and a person he identified as KCRCC Youth Chair Dan Bell appeared to reveal the plan.
“Long story short, we want to take over the Democrat Party,” Bell reportedly said during the Tuesday call.
In Idaho, recording telephone conversations is allowed with the consent of at least one party to the conversation.
Grimm, who ran unsuccessfully for Kootenai County Sheriff in 2020, said he recorded the call to remove any uncertainty about what was said.
“I know from personal observation that certain members of the KCRCC are masters of deception with an ability to twist the meaning of even their own statements,” he said.
Grimm also made it clear that he's a staunch, conservative Republican but that the KCRCC has “gone too far.”
Listen to the full 30-minute recording here.
In the call, Bell described a plan by the KCRCC to take control of the local Democratic Party by having their own candidates run for Democrat precinct captain positions.
Elected by partisan primary voters in May of each even-numbered year, precinct captains are part of both county and legislative district central committees.
Leaders elected by these central committees then elect the state party leaders.
Kootenai County has 70 precincts. There are only 21 Democrat precinct captains. The remaining precincts are vacant, compared to 10 vacant Republican precincts.
As of Wednesday, 11 people had filed to run for Democratic precinct captain positions. At least one was reportedly a KCRCC volunteer.
Bell said KCRCC Chair Brent Regan — who also is chair of the Idaho Freedom Foundation, a nonprofit that promotes conservative causes and candidates — is “totally on board” with the plan.
“If we pull this off, this will be national news,” Bell said.
Neither Bell nor the KCRCC responded to Press requests for comment Wednesday afternoon.
In the recording, Bell said at least 25 Republican volunteers had committed to running as Democrats as of Tuesday, while the KCRCC aims to recruit at least 40.
“We’re going to do a bum rush on Thursday and Friday so that our people are on the ballot and theirs aren’t,” he said.
The deadline to file for May’s primary election is 5 p.m. Friday.
After that, Bell said, Democrats will have to scramble to find write-in candidates, then spend time and money promoting them.
Meanwhile, Bell said he’ll use the Idaho Republican Party’s software to access the contact information of Constitution Party members, as well as unaffiliated conservative voters, and recruit them to make campaign calls for the KCRCC
“We’re going to call these voters and say, ‘Hey, if you want to vote in the primary and take out the liberals, request a Democrat ballot and vote for our people for precinct committee,” Bell said.
Local Republicans reportedly carried out a similar, largely unsuccessful takeover plan in 2014.
Elephants in the room
Recording allegedly reveals plan to take over Kootenai Democratic Party, funnel money to Republicans
cdapress.com
The Kootenai County Republican Central Committee has reportedly planned and recruited volunteers to infiltrate the Kootenai Democrats, install an “antisemitic troll” as party chair and funnel money donated to Democrats to local Republicans instead.
A recorded phone call between Kootenai County resident John Grimm and a person he identified as KCRCC Youth Chair Dan Bell appeared to reveal the plan.
“Long story short, we want to take over the Democrat Party,” Bell reportedly said during the Tuesday call.
In Idaho, recording telephone conversations is allowed with the consent of at least one party to the conversation.
Grimm, who ran unsuccessfully for Kootenai County Sheriff in 2020, said he recorded the call to remove any uncertainty about what was said.
“I know from personal observation that certain members of the KCRCC are masters of deception with an ability to twist the meaning of even their own statements,” he said.
Grimm also made it clear that he's a staunch, conservative Republican but that the KCRCC has “gone too far.”
Listen to the full 30-minute recording here.
In the call, Bell described a plan by the KCRCC to take control of the local Democratic Party by having their own candidates run for Democrat precinct captain positions.
Elected by partisan primary voters in May of each even-numbered year, precinct captains are part of both county and legislative district central committees.
Leaders elected by these central committees then elect the state party leaders.
Kootenai County has 70 precincts. There are only 21 Democrat precinct captains. The remaining precincts are vacant, compared to 10 vacant Republican precincts.
As of Wednesday, 11 people had filed to run for Democratic precinct captain positions. At least one was reportedly a KCRCC volunteer.
Bell said KCRCC Chair Brent Regan — who also is chair of the Idaho Freedom Foundation, a nonprofit that promotes conservative causes and candidates — is “totally on board” with the plan.
“If we pull this off, this will be national news,” Bell said.
Neither Bell nor the KCRCC responded to Press requests for comment Wednesday afternoon.
In the recording, Bell said at least 25 Republican volunteers had committed to running as Democrats as of Tuesday, while the KCRCC aims to recruit at least 40.
“We’re going to do a bum rush on Thursday and Friday so that our people are on the ballot and theirs aren’t,” he said.
The deadline to file for May’s primary election is 5 p.m. Friday.
After that, Bell said, Democrats will have to scramble to find write-in candidates, then spend time and money promoting them.
Meanwhile, Bell said he’ll use the Idaho Republican Party’s software to access the contact information of Constitution Party members, as well as unaffiliated conservative voters, and recruit them to make campaign calls for the KCRCC
“We’re going to call these voters and say, ‘Hey, if you want to vote in the primary and take out the liberals, request a Democrat ballot and vote for our people for precinct committee,” Bell said.
Local Republicans reportedly carried out a similar, largely unsuccessful takeover plan in 2014.
