In a place with a history of hate, an unlikely fight against GOP extremism
Locals prefer not to talk about the hate that took root here a generation ago, when the Aryan Nations and other militants built a white supremacist paradise among the tall pines and crystal lakes of North Idaho. Community activists, backed by national civil rights groups, bankrupted the neo-Nazis in court and eventually forced them to move, a hard-fought triumph memorialized in scenes from 2001 of a backhoe smashing through a giant swastika at the former Aryan compound just outside of Coeur d’Alene, the biggest city in this part of the state. For much of the two decades since, civic leaders have focused on moving beyond the image of North Idaho as a white-power fiefdom. They steered attention instead to emerald golf courses and gleaming lakeside resorts where celebrities such as Kim Kardashian sip huckleberry cocktails. Now, however, North Idaho residents are confronting that history head-on as a new movement builds against far-right extremism. This time, activists say, the threat is no longer on the fringes of society, dressed in Nazi garb at a hideout in the woods. Instead, they see it in the leadership of the local Republican Party, which has mirrored the lurch to the right of the national conservative movement during the Trump era on matters of race, religion and sexuality. The bigotry of the past, they say, now has mainstream political cover. In this ruby-red state, the pushback is being led from within the party. A group of disaffected, self-described “traditional” Republicans has spent the past two years planning to wrest back control from leaders who they accuse of steering the local GOP toward extremism, a charge the officials vehemently deny. A crucial measure of the challengers’ efforts comes Tuesday, Idaho’s primary day. If the breakaway group can succeed, it would make North Idaho an unlikely setting for something rare: A meaningful internal rebellion against the forces that have driven the Republican Party toward open embraces of far-right rhetoric and policies since Donald Trump first claimed the GOP presidential nomination eight years ago.
The rebels have focused their efforts on precinct committee seats, the building blocks of local party power. On Tuesday, they need to win 37 seats out of 73 to force a change in local party leadership, but they’re hoping for a rout. “I want a full sweep,” said Christa Hazel, 50, a Republican organizer who has been doxed and harassed since resigning from the party’s central committee in 2017 over concerns about extremism and a lack of transparency. “I want a full referendum on the ugliness, chaos and division.” Hazel and her allies blame local leaders for ideological fights that have left North Idaho College on the brink of losing its accreditation. Doctors, especially reproductive health specialists, are leaving the area, with one local hospital recently shuttering its maternity ward. Extremism researchers and local media outlets have documented the ties between GOP officials and far-right figures. The challengers boast prominent GOP names within their ranks and deep pockets from local pro-business donations. Their candidates are pressing the case door to door, while radio ads accuse the incumbent committee leaders of promoting “white nationalists and extremists who want to take over our state.”
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