An election that will go down in history

By Mike Weland

Like much of the nation, turnout was high in Boundary County, with 88-percent casting ballots as voters nationwide moved the political pendulum farther to the right in Tuesday’s election. Local voters killed both the school levy and the bond, trounced Proposition 1 and chose to send Donald J. Trump back to the White House. For moderates, perhaps the only bright spot is that Republican Jim Woodward, who ousted the radical Scott Herndon from his old Idaho Senate seat in the primary, defeated right wing Independent challenger Dan Rose handily, 4,967 to 1,888.

Mark Sauter retained District 1 Seat A in the Idaho House, defeating Democratic challenger Karen Matthee 5,742 to 960 and the Idaho Freedom Foundation gained another seat, with Conservative Republican Cornel Rasor garnering 5,512 Boundary County votes to Democrat Kathryn Larson’s 1,311.

The hardest hurt in Boundary County are the children of parents who choose to have their children educated in District 101 public schools that have a long tradition of excellence on a shoestring, especially students who attend Valley View Elementary.

At 70 years old and rated one of the most dilapidated school buildings in the state of Idaho, Valley View was built in part with top-of-the-line U.S. government materials left over from the palatial estates enjoyed by thousands of U.S. Navy recruits who attended boot camp at Farragut Naval Station in preparation for embarking aboard luxury liners to exotic theaters of global war.

Not only will they not be able to look forward to a warm and safe building to go to in a year or two with 3,708 voting “no” to 3,218 voting “yes,” they can look forward to two years without local maintenance and operation funds, 3,766 voting no to 3,241 yes votes … no duct tape or baling wire to fix whatever might break between now and then.

For president, 5,794 Boundary County voters opted to return Donald J. Trump to the White House, with 1,145 voting for Harris. Nationwide, Trump and the far right pulled off an election miracle, owning the libs by sending a twice impeached convicted felon to the White House, this time armed with a Supreme Court writ of immunity from criminal prosecution and a promise to go after immigrants and the “enemies within,” ie Democrats, liberals, journalists and other American citizens who refused to believe his myriad lies and propaganda, floating the idea using our nation’s military might against her own citizens to Make America Great Again.

Proposition 1 fell in Boundary County, 5,710 to 1,298 and likewise across the state 69.7-percent to 30.3-percent.

Touted as the most consequential U.S. election since 1860, the election of 2024 does promise interesting times ahead.