The most dramatic faceoff
Foreman v. McCann.
Tuesday’s election in Virginia over adopting a redistricted - gerrymandered - congressional district map was, whatever else, dramatic. As the vote trickled in over a couple of hours, it stayed close almost always, and while the “no” side narrowly led most of the time, the “yes” side eventually prevailed.
Idaho doesn’t have a lot of election nights like that anymore, but the primary election about a month from now does have some unpredictability about it, and some races that could be close in the Republican primary, where most of the action will be.
A bunch of contests have emerged pitting two clear sides against each other, mainstream candidates against the harder-edged contenders aligned with the state party structure. Both have scored wins in recent years; in 2024, the state party side seemed to get the better of it. This year, especially in the Magic Valley, we’ll see if a pushback attempt succeeds.
One of those contests stands out for the stark choices involved and the unmistakability of whatever the voters decide. That is the race for the Senate in District 6, which includes Moscow, part of Lewiston, and rural areas around them.
It’s a district that in theory might have been designed for something resembling moderation, but has not turned out to be. Moscow is nearly central, but its university community is offset by a large religious group development. The district’s senator is third-term Republican Dan Foreman of Moscow. His challenger is Lori McCann of Lewiston, a Republican House member appointed in 2021 and elected twice since.
Don’t let the party label fool you: They could hardly be more different, a description with which they’d both probably agree.
Foreman’s history doesn’t sound like the makings of a political success story, though he’s been elected repeatedly in a competitive area. Reportedly, he has shouted at constituents (notably students) who tried to talk with him at the Statehouse; among other things he was reported as saying “abortion is murder.”. He has said of his home area, “Latah County, particularly the university, greater Moscow area, is a cesspool of liberalism.” During a candidate forum in the 2024 election he told a fellow candidate, a member of the Nez Perce Tribe, to “go back to where you came from.” (Foreman has denied saying it, but others at the meeting said he did.)
His legislative record is, mostly, on the edge of where even current Idaho Republican caucuses are willing to go. He does not support any space between church and state, considers climate change a “scam” and has introduced legislation to make abortion first degree murder. The whole record (including in the recent session acting against a measure designed to cripple the Idaho Education Association) is a little more complex than that, but you get the drift. He has been well liked by the state Republican organization and the influential Idaho Freedom Foundation.
McCann, on the other hand, has been a backer of public schools and higher education and notably the University of Idaho - usually an ordinary thing in a district home to a large state university, but not a given these days. She was quoted: “Some Idaho legislators believe higher education should be defunded. I do not.” (She was quoted as saying Foreman’s IEA bill actions were motivated by the upcoming primary election against her.) She has been a defender of public libraries too, and generally has not joined in the culture wars that have attracted so many Republican legislators in recent years.
For her actions in some of these areas, local and state Republican organizations have criticized her and even set up a “platform enforcement” hearing to decide whether she had been sufficiently faithful to the state Republican platform.
All that is background to her complaints about being able to work with Foreman, or even talking with him: “We can’t get in to see him. We’re not getting replies back.”
Two well-established Republican legislators in the same district so sharply at odds in policy and approach make for a highly unusual primary contest. The results will have a lot to say about what this section of Idaho is all about.
And something to say about in general too.