Why Boise Will Vote for Bundy

Ammon Bundy may have been convicted recently involving his actions at the statehouse, but that hasn't stopped the national media from doing another story about his run for Idaho's governor.

Those that dismiss the Emmett Cowboy as a fringe candidate would be mistaken to underestimate him. Yahoo News reports that Mr. Bundy has a significant idea that would win him, voters, even in the liberal enclave of Idaho's capital city, Boise.  

Mr. Bundy is using the housing crisis in Boise and the Gem State to fuel his campaign. While other candidates are talking about executive power, socialism, or Critical Race Theory, Bundy is pitching his plan to solve the housing crisis.

His program combines the decades-old battle of public lands owned by the federal government with the current lack of affordable housing in the Gem State. The last time the public lands issue was front and center in a gubernatorial primary was 2014, when State Senator Russ Fulcher came very close to defeating incumbent Governor Butch Otter, seeking his third term.  

If you think there's no way anyone in Boise could relate to Bundy's efforts, read the following from the Yahoo News Story via the LA Times. 

"One of his daughters is 18 and thinking of marrying her sweetheart. She plans to train to be a masseuse and her boyfriend has college plans. Bundy wonders how they will ever afford a housing payment. His property, for which he paid nearly $600,000 six years ago, is now worth double that — a mortgage the young couple couldn't manage, he said.

The average home price in Idaho is about $390,000, according to real estate tracker Zillow, an increase of nearly 28% from a year ago. Flooding the market is how he sees homes becoming attainable for future generations.

"It is important to know that the historical American dream was rooted in property ownership. In order for people to feel prosperous, secure and happy, they have to have their own home," Bundy, wearing a trademark Stetson, told the cheering crowd at his kickoff event, which drew about 400 people, though organizers claimed 700.

"To create affordable housing for the young and the old alike, we simply need more supply. And to have more supply, we need to take our lands back."

Mr. Bundy is the first candidate to illustrate the fundamental issue of the lack of affordable housing in Idaho. Sure the legislature talks about it, and the cities lobby against any legislation that would limit their ability to spend revenue fueled by the continued unsustainable escalation of the property taxes on homeowners. We all know the joke, "I could sell my home and make a bucket-load of money, but I can't find a new place to live after I sell?"  

Idahoans are frustrated with the great Idaho dream eroded by greedy developers and complicit politicians who cash in at their expense. Bundy's experience gives him credibility with Idahoans looking for an unorthodox answer to their dilemma. How many folks can relate to having a good job and not being able to afford a home? How many parents, grandparents, and others see this happening to their family members.  

In his quote above, Mr. Bundy combines both the public land issues, which are very real and the current lack of affordable housing. Can connect those two issues fuel Bundy to win in Boise and Idaho? Politics ends when the house payment is due.  

="60e68af349a1f808c1329824"]