Party infighting grows as voters switch affiliation in Kootenai County races

Party-switching has become a real power play in Kootenai County, where Republicans hold 67% of registered voters and Democrats are under 9%. The latest fight is over who gets to vote in the GOP’s precinct races, because those contests decide the local committee that backs candidates, selects delegates and shapes the party’s message.

That fight runs through 74 precincts, where precinct committeemen are elected in the May primary. Filing for the 2026 county and precinct races closed March 13, and the May 19 primary will settle the seats that make up the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee. Whoever controls that committee can help steer endorsements before the primary, a powerful advantage in a county where endorsed Republican candidates often win their primaries and then run unopposed in November.

The numbers show how much the ground has shifted. In the past 10 years, 94% of new Kootenai County voters registered Republican, according to a May 2026 opinion column. That registration advantage has helped make the precinct-level contest a proxy battle over the future of local government, from the county courthouse to the state convention floor.

The 2024 cycle showed how contested the party machinery has become. There were 73 seats on the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee, and all but three races drew challengers. After the May 21 primary, incumbent committeemen kept their majority, while North Idaho Republicans won 30 seats, still short of the 36 needed for control. Former Idaho Lt. Gov. Jack Riggs has described North Idaho Republicans as aiming to support what it sees as good conservative Republican candidates.

The infighting has not stayed inside party meetings. In 2024, some KCRCC members said misleading mailers created confusion over which candidates the local GOP actually supported. In 2025, former precinct committeewoman Kathleen Tillman was removed after missing four consecutive meetings while caring for her husband, sparking a dispute over whether the absences should have been excused. Tillman said she had informed party leadership and used proxies, while KCRCC leaders said the committee had never formally excused the absences.

Names such as Coeur d'Alene Mayor Dan Gookin and Russell Mann have surfaced in the broader clash over who speaks for Kootenai County Republicans. Behind the personal feuds is a more durable question: whether the party’s precinct structure will be controlled by voters who are newly switching into the GOP, or by the committee loyalists already holding the machinery that helps decide endorsements, delegates and the 2024 and 2026 ballot lineups.