<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><div><span></span></div><div><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div><span></span></div><div><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div><span></span></div><div><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div><span></span></div><div><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span></span></div><div><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Courtesy of today's (July 18, 2014) Spokesman-Review.</div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">------------------------------------</div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br></div><div><h1 style="font-size: 28px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; clear: both; line-height: 1.2; color: rgb(17, 17, 17); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Idaho GOP chairman files lawsuit</h1><h5 class="subhead" style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 12px; font-size: 16px; clear: both; line-height: 1; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Peterson argues he is bona fide leader</h5><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; margin-bottom: 21px; overflow: visible !important;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">BOISE – Embattled Idaho GOP Chairman Barry Peterson filed a lawsuit Thursday seeking to maintain control over the state’s divided Republican Party and stop attempts to challenge his authority.</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; margin-bottom: 21px; overflow: visible !important;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">According to the lawsuit, Peterson is seeking a declaratory judgment that he is still the chairman despite arguments claiming his term has since expired. His critics say he is no longer the party’s chair because last month’s chaotic Idaho GOP convention failed to elect any new state officers.</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; margin-bottom: 21px; overflow: visible !important;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“It is with great regret that we have had to take this legal action to enforce state party rules,” Peterson wrote in a news release.</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; margin-bottom: 21px; overflow: visible !important;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Peterson filed the suit against party interim vice chair Mike Mathews and GOP national committeewoman Cindy Siddoway in Twin Falls 5th District Court. Six other Republicans filed with Peterson. Those include former 2nd Congressional District candidate Bryan Smith, LeeAnn Callear, Vicky Purdy, Todd Hatfield, Marla Lawson and John Cross.</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; margin-bottom: 21px; overflow: visible !important;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Eagle attorney Christ Troupis, a tea party favorite, is representing the plaintiffs.</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; margin-bottom: 21px; overflow: visible !important;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Political infighting has plagued the Idaho GOP as far-right conservatives maintain Peterson is still the party’s leader. Establishment Republicans, however, argue that Peterson’s term has expired and he no longer holds any authority over the party.</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; margin-bottom: 21px; overflow: visible !important;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Mathews and Siddoway were among 20 members of the Idaho central committee who called for a special meeting on Aug. 2 in Boise. The meeting, which has the backing of the Republican National Committee, is scheduled to elect new state party officers.</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; margin-bottom: 21px; overflow: visible !important;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Meanwhile, Peterson says the lawsuit is necessary because Gov. Butch Otter had yet to resolve the issue, even though Otter has previously endorsed the Aug. 2 meeting.</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; margin-bottom: 21px; overflow: visible !important;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">According to the lawsuit, the plaintiffs are also seeking to restrain Mathews and Siddoway – along with all other possible participants – from convening the Aug. 2 meeting.</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; margin-bottom: 21px; overflow: visible !important;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“The power of the governor’s office reaches every nook and cranny of the state’s political realm,” Peterson wrote. “Yet, the Republican Party is self-governing and has over the years established rules to operate under. When some feel they are not bound by the rules, does that mean that power makes right and we can set the rules aside? For some it does. But I believe for the majority it is still important to operate within the Rules.”</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; margin-bottom: 21px; overflow: visible !important;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">--------------------</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 21px; overflow: visible !important;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Barry Peterson, a Mountain Home hardware store owner and Region 3 GOP chairman, speaks after being elected the new chairman of the Idaho Republican Party on June 23, 2012, in Twin Falls, Idaho.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 21px; overflow: visible !important;"><img src="cid:46901FAA-F234-4AED-9CD8-8A0614726298" alt="BarryPeterson-ap-6-23-12_t1240.jpg" id="46901FAA-F234-4AED-9CD8-8A0614726298" width="512" height="349"></p></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">------------------------------------</div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Idaho Republican Party Dedication</div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><a href="http://www.TomandRodna.com/Songs/Idaho_Republican_Party_Dedication.mp3">http://www.TomandRodna.com/Songs/Idaho_Republican_Party_Dedication.mp3</a><br><br><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Seeya at <i>Rendezvous in the Park</i>, Moscow, because . . .</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)</span></div><div><a href="http://www.moscowcares.com/" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><font color="#000000">http://www.MoscowCares.com</font></a></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></div><div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Tom Hansen</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Moscow, Idaho</span></div></div><div> </div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></body></html>