The Republican race for Idaho Secretary of State is heating up, with two candidates already declared for the May 2022 primary.
The Idaho Press reported Tuesday that Republican State Senator Mary Souza declared her intention to run for Secretary of State in 2022. She joins current Ada County Clerk Phil McGrane, who declared last month.
McGrane lost to Lawrence Denney by nine points in 2014’s four-way Republican primary to replace Ben Ysursa. Denney went on to defeat Democrat Holli Woodings in the 2014 general election.
The Press reports Denney said in mid-March he probably won’t seek a third term.
“I think that citizens are paying much more attention to issues about elections,” said Dr. Jaclyn Kettler, professor of political science at Boise State.
She says there are advantages for declaring early, like scaring off potential opponents and having plenty of time to get your message out.
“With so much focus on voting and election processes, I think that there will be more interest in hearing about the candidates' ideas and perspectives on those issues,” she said.
In a campaign statement obtained by the Idaho Press, Souza writes, “liberal big tech companies are trying to infiltrate and manipulate our election outcomes.”
On Facebook, Souza has posted false claims related to last November’s presidential election about electronic voting companies Smartmatic and Dominion. Both companies filed defamation lawsuits against the Fox Corporation and others for perpetuating false information in the aftermath of the November election.
In a Dec. 11 post, Souza criticized Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden for refusing to join a multi-state lawsuit seeking to overturn results of the presidential election. Souza joined several other state lawmakers on an amicus curiae in support of that lawsuit, which was dismissed by the U.S. Supreme Court the same day as her social media post.
Souza did not reply to requests for more information.
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