Idaho Senate approves bill creating May presidential primary election

The Idaho Senate on Wednesday cleared a hurdle toward reinstating a presidential primary election in May after it was unintentionally eliminated in 2023.

However, there’s a competing bill to reinstate a March presidential primary instead, with a much steeper candidate filing fee, that passed the House earlier this month, the Idaho Capital Sun reported.

McCammon Republican Sen. Jim Guthrie sponsored Senate Bill 1398, which would consolidate primary elections for the presidential nomination and down-ticket local and state races to the Tuesday following the first Monday in May. Under Guthrie’s bill, political parties would have the option to opt out of the presidential primary election, and use the caucus process instead.

Guthrie said the timing was selected to support higher voter turnout while selecting Idaho’s presidential nominees ahead of summer party national conventions.



https://idahocapitalsun.com/2026/03/25/idaho-senate-approves-bill-creating-may-presidential-primary-election/