Kootenai County GOP re-elects Brent Regan as chairman

The Kootenai County Republican Central Committee narrowly re-elected longtime chairman Brent Regan Thursday night over a more moderate challenger.

Jim Pierce, a charter member of the North Idaho Republicans who is not a member of the precinct committee, was also nominated for the position. Regan won 36-32.

The makeup of the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee changed dramatically last week as 30 North Idaho Republican-endorsed members won precinct races. The North Idaho Republicans is a political action committee that has opposed KCRCC-endorsed candidates for being too extreme. They ran an aggressive campaign in the May election to win back as many wards as they could.

“The presidency is a very technical and involved job,” Regan said in his nomination speech. “You have to be a counselor, a referee and a coach.”

Newly elected Republican committeemen met Thursday night at the Kootenai County Administration Building in Coeur d’Alene to choose their executive committee and state convention delegates. There are 73 wards and 70 committee members were present.

Pierce is a former vice chairman and chairman of the Idaho Republican Party. In his speech, he expressed his Republican bona fides, including denouncing Thursday’s conviction of former President Donald Trump, which he called “a travesty of justice.”

However, he questioned the transparency of the KCRCC and spoke in favor of welcoming all conservatives.

“Control is not a conservative value,” Pierce said.

Regan was elected caucus member and caucus chair in 2016. Under his leadership, the party shifted to the right and became aggressive in evaluating and vetting primary candidates, usually favoring candidates further ahead of Republican incumbents. KCRCC-endorsed candidates have taken majority control of boards such as North Idaho College and the Community Library Network. Regan is also president of the Idaho Freedom Foundation, a conservative-libertarian think tank with notable influence on Idaho politics.