Idaho’s state Republican Party Convention was a mass of confusion over the weekend, as they failed to agree on a party platform, and the convention adjourned without electing a chairman.
Although they experienced success in North Idaho races, libertarian and tea party forces lost badly in most parts of the state in the May primary. Even so, they tried to keep control of the party at the state convention.
The failure of the convention means that a full day of discussion over resolutions and platform planks was in vain. The platform committee had agreed on one major change in the state party platform: getting rid of a clause that calls for repealing the 17th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The 17th Amendment requires direct election of U.S. senators, and handing the power to pick senators back to state legislatures. However, that plank will now stay in the state GOP platform for the next two years.
Many of the delegates left the event even before it was adjourned. Idaho congressman Raul Labrador, who was the convention chair, said he worked for several weeks to prevent the party from splintering. The fact it ended in disarray will not look good for Labrador's hope to become the next Majority Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives.
