BoCo Commissioner Steve Bradshaw announces run for governor

By Lyndsie Kiebert
Reader Staff

Bonner County District 1 Commissioner Steve Bradshaw announced his run for Idaho governor July 27, sharing his deeply conservative platform in a media release.

“Biden’s radical federal regime wants to run roughshod over the sovereignty of Idaho, and the freedom of Idahoans,” Bradshaw stated. “Washington DC technocrats want to dictate every detail of how we live our lives. But their ‘one size fits all’ Washington DC solutions just don’t work here. So I am never going to allow that to happen.”

Bonner County Commissioner Steve Bradshaw.

Bradshaw went on to list several hypothetical scenarios he would not allow in Idaho should he be elected governor, such as being “masked against our will” and “vaccinated against our will.” Bradshaw expressed anti-trans and pro-Second Amendment sentiments, and noted that under his leadership in Idaho, “no one will teach our kids that America is an illegitimate nation founded in evil when we all know that America is the best hope for the future of all mankind.”

“We will not deem patriots as ‘domestic’ terrorists, nor will we deem a political gathering an ‘insurrection,’” Bradshaw stated, referring to the violent Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol following a pro-Trump “Stop the Steal” rally based on false claims challenging the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election. 

When the Reader asked Bradshaw if he condoned the actions of those who stormed the Capitol, he said: “I in no way support any illegal actions or violence, however I do support the right to ‘peaceful’ protest and freedom of speech.”

Bradshaw’s campaign — dubbed the “R.O.A.R” or “Restore Our American Republic” campaign — is focused on protecting Idaho from the “radical Biden regime’s overreach from the DC swamp” and joins a May 2022 Republican primary field that already includes incumbent Gov. Brad Little and Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin, who is seeking to replace Little in the top office.

A campaign finance profile of Bradshaw’s gubernatorial run, created July 26, is accessible on the Idaho secretary of state’s website (sos.idaho.gov/elections-division/campaign-finance-filing) and lists Craig Campo as treasurer.

“We face a time where we need to search our souls, and determine what we value, and what we will fight to protect,” Bradsaw said. “The challenges are significant, and our response must be decisive. We simply can’t leave it to your average politicians to handle. No one has ever accused me of being the average politician. But, I have heard the call to battle, and I am answering it.”

Bradshaw, the pastor at the Cocolalla Cowboy Church, was elected to the board of county commissioners in 2018, and earned re-election in 2020.

While we have you ...

... if you appreciate that access to the news, opinion, humor, entertainment and cultural reporting in the Sandpoint Reader is freely available in our print newspaper as well as here on our website, we have a favor to ask. The Reader is locally owned and free of the large corporate, big-money influence that affects so much of the media today. We're supported entirely by our valued advertisers and readers. We're committed to continued free access to our paper and our website here with NO PAYWALL - period. But of course, it does cost money to produce the Reader. If you're a reader who appreciates the value of an independent, local news source, we hope you'll consider a voluntary contribution. You can help support the Reader for as little as $1.

You can contribute at either Paypal or Patreon.

Contribute at Patreon Contribute at Paypal

You may also like...

Close [x]

Want to support independent local journalism?

The Sandpoint Reader is our town's local, independent weekly newspaper. "Independent" means that the Reader is locally owned, in a partnership between Publisher Ben Olson and Keokee Co. Publishing, the media company owned by Chris Bessler that also publishes Sandpoint Magazine and Sandpoint Online. Sandpoint Reader LLC is a completely independent business unit; no big newspaper group or corporate conglomerate or billionaire owner dictates our editorial policy. And we want the news, opinion and lifestyle stories we report to be freely available to all interested readers - so unlike many other newspapers and media websites, we have NO PAYWALL on our website. The Reader relies wholly on the support of our valued advertisers, as well as readers who voluntarily contribute. Want to ensure that local, independent journalism survives in our town? You can help support the Reader for as little as $1.