Ammon Bundy delivered almost 400 more signatures than state law requires of him, securing his position as an Independent in the race for Idaho Governor.
On his campaign’s virtual town hall earlier this week, Bundy said he’d hold a press event today, March 10, at 2 p.m., to deliver his signatures to Secretary of State Lawerence Denney, get them verified, and then share a special announcement at a press conference. Denney greeted Bundy with smiles and an extended handshake while members of the campaign took photos.
Once the Secretary of State’s office pronounced more than the number of signatures required had been received, Bundy held a press conference on the Capitol steps that focused almost exclusively on what he called Gov. Brad Little’s “lies” around ending the state of emergency Little declared in April 2020 during the height of the coronavirus pandemic. In his prepared remarks, he compared Little to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.
In February, Bundy dropped out of the Republican primary, in which Little is running for re-election, following social media innuendo that he’d made an agreement to endorse Janice McGeachin. McGeachin is Idaho’s current lieutenant governor who has come under fire for speaking at the white nationalist conference AFPAC on Feb. 25. Instead, Bundy said no agreement with McGeachin was made and that he’d be running as an Independent, meaning that while he won’t be on the GOP primary ballot in May, he will appear on the November ballot. Gathering 1000 verified signatures from every Idaho county is the first step necessary to make the November ballot, and as of today, Bundy has cleared that hurdle.
At the press conference, Idaho Press reporter Betsy Russell asked Bundy if he’d be endorsing anyone in the May 17 GOP primary. Bundy said he’d be actively campaigning for several conservative candidates, and while he didn’t name names, in his prepared remarks he specifically said that current Attorney General Lawrence Wasden, candidate for Lieutenant Governor Scott Bedke, the current Speaker of the House, and the secretary of state’s race were priorities for new leadership that prioritize liberty.
Bundy is slated to appear in court Monday on misdemeanor trespassing charges stemming from his protest of the Idaho Capitol in 2020. No members of the media asked questions about Bundy’s history of breaking laws in Idaho, or his previous charges stemming from the 2016 armed takeover of the Malheur Wildlife Refuge in Oregon.
