May 16, 2022 (Cover Photo Credit: David Worley)
Don’t be Deceived by Slick Mailers; New Leadership Needed in Bannock County Republican Party
By: David Worley
The Bannock County Republican Party has been controlled by the same small group of people for years. Char Tovey, the current committee chair and her son, Terrell Tovey, who is also a County Commissioner, control the committee with a small cadre of lieutenants who are determined to retain control at any cost.
This group has run the Bannock GOP into the ground. The meetings are sparsely attended; the last meeting they didn’t even have a quorum until halfway through the meeting. Worse still, they have made it their mission to undermine conservative candidates who support the party platform and want to actually fight for the people of our community.
The mailers they just sent out for their precinct committeeman candidates say they want to promote conservative values and support “Common-sense Republican Candidates.” However, this group has backed and praised both Mayor Blad and Representative Dustin Manwaring, two of the least conservative local politicians we have.
Mayor Blad, ostensibly a Republican, received the endorsement of the Democrat Party in the mayor’s race last year and made the maximum contribution to District 29 Democrat Representative James Ruchti, one of the most radical Leftists in the Idaho Legislature. Blad has also been a tax and spend mayor and his policies are largely to blame for the skyrocketing property taxes in Pocatello. Regardless, in the eyes of the current party leadership, Blad is a Republican in good standing while those who opposed him are “right wing extremists.”
Dustin Manwaring has an F score from both the Idaho Freedom Foundation and the American Conservative Union. He voted against every substantive attempt to limit the emergency powers of the governor during the COVID pandemic. These are the powers the governor used to lockdown businesses, close churches, and disrupt our lives and economy. Manwaring voted against protecting Idaho citizens from the immoral and unlawful vaccine mandate. He voted against banning mask mandates in Idaho. He voted against giving parents the legal right to decide whether or not to mask their kids in school. He voted against a resolution calling for the overturn of Roe v. Wade and then was absent for the vote on the fetal heartbeat bill. He votes consistently for bigger government and higher taxes. Manwaring votes like a Democrat, but, in the eyes of the current Bannock County GOP, he is a “Common-sense Republican.”
This group walks lockstep with the state Republican Party establishment and does little more than try to block and police conservatives while providing cover for Republicans who wear our uniform but play for the other team.
Do not be deceived. There is nothing conservative or “common-sense” about the Toveys and their brand of “Republican.” They are the Meghan McCains of the Idaho GOP. They are more comfortable working with the Democrats against you than fighting alongside the actual conservatives of their own party.
If you want to see the Bannock County Republican Party hold our candidates accountable to the conservative principles of the party and fight the Left, then support the precinct committeeman candidates from the Bannock County Conservative Coalition in the Republican Primary this Tuesday, May 17th, 2022.
Conservatives running for Bannock County Precinct Committeeman
1 Sue Ann Hodge
84 Jeanie Avery
