Local GOP hosts Lincoln Day dinner

Washington County Republicans hosted Idaho’s 33rd governor and fellow GOP member Gov. Brad Little at the Lincoln Day dinner on Friday at the Elks lodge in Weiser.

 The annual dinner is the biggest fundraising event of the year for the local GOP. The Lincoln Day dinner in Weiser is always one of the first in the state. 

 Every county Republican Party across Idaho will hold a celebratory event honoring Abraham Lincoln, America’s 16th president and the first Republican to hold that office.

 The many local, state and federal lawmakers who made the trip to Weiser for the GOP dinner were introduced after dinner. 

 Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin, who is the first woman to serve in that office, said the Washington County Lincoln Day event is  famous for having the best dinner. 

 She said the Republicans in attendance represented the traditional, conservative values that are cherished by Idahoans and thanked local efforts to get GOP lawmakers elected across the state last November.

 “If it wasn’t for your efforts none of us would be here tonight,” she said.

 Weiser Mayor Diana Thomas thanked then-Lt. Gov. Brad Little for his help getting state assistance to Weiser during the snowpocalypse two years ago during the winter of 2017, an ordeal that many residents remember.

 After the city and county declared a state of emergency, the state did as well, freeing up some assistance to help dig the city out from a nearly unprecedented, at least in recent memory, amount of snow. 

 “I will be forever grateful and so will the rest of the community,” the mayor said.

 Little said he remembered the worst winter in many years well. He said the community pulled together to get through the difficult weather, and that attitude of getting by without the government was indicative of western, frontierish, liberty loving people.

 “It really spoke to the heart and soul of this community – the self reliance,” he said.

 An Emmett rancher and former state senator, Little is well-known in Washington County and has extended family here. He married the former Teresa Soulen in 1978.

 Little held the position of lieutenant governor for nine years from 2009-2018 after he was appointed by former Gov. Butch Otter. 

 He ran as a Republican for governor and won the GOP primary in May of 2018 in a contested field of candidates. 

 In the general election last November, Little won with 59.8 percent of the statewide vote over Democrat Paulette Jordan.  

 Little was sworn in as Idaho’s 33rd governor on Jan. 4 on the steps of the Capitol in Boise. 

 Little said the hard work of Republican constitutional state officials and state lawmakers had paved the way for the record low unemployment in the state today and the highest wage growth in the nation.

 Following the federal tax reductions signed by President Trump, Idaho legislators also cut the  state income tax rate to the lowest rate since 1934. 

 “It was the right thing for us to do,” he said.

 State lawmakers are arguing over surplus state revenue and how much should be parked in the  state’s rainy day fund. Debating what to do with excess state revenue is a good argument to have, Little said.

 Having a solid rainy day fund will keep the state from having to cut programs, raise taxes or cut public education spending when the next recession or economic downturn comes, he said.

 Little also said he wants to see an Idaho solution to replace the Affordable Care Act. The state needs a program that makes health care more affordable and accessible to Idahoans.