There is a growing sentiment among active conservatives throughout Idaho that we are just one election cycle away from becoming the full-throated conservative powerhouse that the people have demanded for years now. With the sun setting on the 2026 legislative session, a session that saw many wins but also many losses, the electoral battlegrounds have never been clearer. Conservatives, especially those who have signed The Pledge, have the momentum. And while it may feel like the Empire struck back this session, the People are not giving up.
All major legislation this year dealing with illegal immigration failed to make it past the gatekeepers in the Senate. When it came time to hold hearings on many of the bills that passed the House, Senate State Affairs Committee chairman, Jim Guthrie locked all bills in his drawer.
Bill on mandatory E-Verify, penalties for employers who knowingly hire illegals, and implementing real tools to put Idaho families first, suffered the chairman’s veto. Senate Leader Pro Tempore Kelly Anthon, as the leader of the upper chamber, deferred to tradition and precedence by failing to step in and correct course. These obstructions are frustrating, but it won’t be the final word.
For the first time in recent decades, the legislature delivered real, across-the-board budget cuts in a non-recession year. Conservative fiscal hawks on JFAC forced restraint, trimming where possible and refusing to rubber-stamp endless expansion. They even stopped $14 million and $16 million in federal funds for child care centers after seeing massive fraud scandals in Minnesota just as Idaho entered the new session.
Yes, overall appropriations still edged up slightly, but the blame for that lies squarely with Medicaid expansion’s exploding costs and the uncounted burden of illegal immigration on our schools, hospitals, and services. We still cannot get a clean count of how much those two drivers are costing Idaho taxpayers. That is not fiscal failure by the legislature. That is political failure by those who continue to protect the status quo. Idaho needs to do a better job of getting able-bodied people back to work full time instead of milking our state-run healthcare system.
Meanwhile, the wins piled up where it mattered most for families.
The Idaho Supreme Court delivered a total victory for the Parental School Choice Tax Credit. Smacking down what amounted to be claims that had no standing from the petitioners, including a sitting legislator, Stephanie Mickelsen. Who signed on to sue Idaho after her vote against the tax credit didn’t work. Over 6,000 families and more than 13,500 students have already applied in the program’s first year. Parents are voting with their feet, keeping children out of a public system that seems all too often to prioritize feelings, activism, and ideology over education. That is real, measurable freedom.
The dramatic journey of House Bill 516 transitioning to House Bill 745, the teachers’ union reform bill that limits taxpayer subsidies for union activities, was a roller coaster ride. Getting that bill to the governor’s desk was no small feat, considering the late-session maneuvering and questions around Chairman and Senator Dan Foreman’s handling of the original version. It happened because conservatives refused to let the issue die, despite the establishment’s attempts at destruction.
CAI Pledge Signers also united to pass the Merit-Based Health Care Act, stripping DEI requirements from Medicaid contracts. They eventually came together to restore critical funding to the Attorney General’s office so his office can keep fighting to protect children from predators. They strengthened changing-room protections for women and minors. House Bill 822 gave parents ironclad rights to know if schools or counselors are grooming their children toward gender transition without their knowledge. H602 banned Sharia, and all foreign laws, from Idaho courts when they conflict with our constitutional rights. Church protections against disruptions were expanded. Boat stops now require reasonable suspicion again, restoring Fourth Amendment rights on Idaho waters. The list goes on.
Even the Blaine Amendment repeal, which fell short again, forced a public conversation Idaho had never had before. More people now understand that relic isn’t “separation of church and state,” it’s institutionalized hostility to faith. That conversation will continue.
None of this happened by accident. It happened because a new generation of conservatives elected in 2022 and 2024, showed up ready to govern. Pledge signer’s linked arms and refused to let the old guard’s inertia win the day.
While we are not where we want to be yet, we are holding the reins of a conservative juggernaut. The old establishment guard, still clinging to power, still protecting entrenched interests, still waiting for the federal government to rescue Idaho are finally feeling the heat. As you, the People, continue to demand results, they can no longer stop the momentum. They can only try and slow down the inevitable.
This is why 2026 matters more than ever. While the General election in Nov will provide some drama, it is the primaries that are the real election in Idaho. Every seat held by someone who blocked E-verify and Illegal Immigration reform, who protected Medicaid expansion, who pushed back on parental rights, is now in play. The people have the power to deport those obstacles the same way we expect the government to deport those who don’t belong here.
This is not despair. This is opportunity. We didn’t slide into the current mess overnight, and we won’t fix it in one glorious session. Real conservatives understand this is the long game. We fight because it’s right, because Idaho belongs to the people who are willing to stay in the fight. Surrendering our state to the same failed policies that ruined Colorado, California, Oregon, and Washington, is unacceptable.
We have the hold. Now we reel it in.
The voters of Idaho have already shown they’re ready. Political refugees from blue states keep arriving, bringing their votes and their values with them. The reinforcements are here. All that remains is for every conservative in this state to show up at the ballot box in May and November. Return your mail ballot. Vote in person. Make your voice impossible to ignore. Help us finish the job.
The best days for Idaho are not behind us, they are yet to come. If, we have the courage to seize them. We ride together.