Local GOP panel sticks with three finalists

May 11—After a busy week of discussions and recriminations, local Republican officials circled back to where they began and stuck with their original list of names to replace former Lewiston Rep. Aaron von Ehlinger.

The three candidates, in order of preference, are Glen Baldwin, Robert Blair and Hannah Liedkie.

The three were selected from among a list of eight nominees during a May 3 meeting of the 6th Legislative District Republican Central Committee.

Their names were immediately submitted to the governor. The next day, however, some precinct captains began agitating to remove Liedkie from the list and replace her with the fourth-place candidate.

The turmoil resulted from her past social media posts, including a 6-year-old photo which showed Liedkie posing at an airport with Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, albeit while she wore a Ben Carson T-shirt. The online posts were apparently enough to call her conservative credentials into question.

The 6th District central committee held two emergency meetings to discuss how to move forward. Ultimately, it left the original list unchanged. The governor now has until May 18 to appoint one of the three to the remainder of von Ehlinger's term.

Von Ehlinger, who was appointed to office last June, resigned April 29 after being accused of rape by a 19-year-old House intern. He denied the allegation, saying the sex was consensual, and has not been charged with any crime.

However, the House Ethics Committee concluded that he had engaged in conduct unbecoming a member of the Idaho House, and recommended that he be censured and suspended without pay for the remainder of his term. He resigned before the full House could vote on the recommendation.

The 2021 legislative session is expected to wrap up work for the year Wednesday.

Spence may be contacted at bspence@lmtribune.com or (208) 791-9168.