Idaho Lt. Gov. Brad Little (R) will ascend to the state’s top job after easily outpacing his Democratic rival on Tuesday.
Little beat out former state Rep. Paulette Jordan (D), the first Native American woman to win a major party’s nomination for governor.{mosads}
But Idaho is a deeply conservative state that has not elected a Democratic governor since Cecil Andrus won reelection in 1990. President Trump carried the state with 59 percent of the vote in 2016, running 30 points ahead of Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
Little, a former Idaho state senator who won the lieutenant governorship in 2008, survived a tough Republican primary against Rep. Raul Labrador (R) and businessman Tommy Ahlquist (R). He won support from the man he will replace, term-limited Gov. Butch Otter (R).