Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, in an exclusive interview with KBOI2 News from the airport tarmac before he flew out of Boise after a private downtown fundraiser yesterday, said he believes Trump has appeal in Idaho, even though the state’s GOP primary voters backed Ted Cruz instead. “I truly do believe that the common-sense conservative agenda that Donald Trump has articulated has resonated here in Idaho,” Pence told KBOI2 anchor Brent Hunsaker. “I heard that from folks today.”
The TV station reports that Pence was on the ground in Boise for only an hour, including his private fundraiser at the Zions Bank building. His comments to Hunsaker mostly focused on defending Trump’s immigration proposals. “I think the people who tuned in last night to Donald Trump’s speech heard a man who is now laid out a road map for ending illegal immigration in this country once and for all,” Pence said. KBOI2 has its full report online here.
Cruz won Idaho’s March GOP presidential primary with 45.4 percent of the vote. Trump was in second place with 28.1 percent, Marco Rubio placed third with 15.9 percent, and John Kasich drew 7.4 percent.
In Idaho’s Democratic caucuses, Bernie Sanders overwhelmingly defeated Hillary Clinton, so Idaho voters favored different nominees in both parties.
Idaho has voted reliably Republican for president for decades; the state’s four electoral votes haven’t gone to a Democrat since 1964, when Idahoans picked Lyndon Johnson over Barry Goldwater.
Via Eye on Boise