Kirk Sullivan Uncut

BOISE - With the primary election mostly in the books, Idaho’s Republican Party chairman is gearing up for an election challenge of his own.

Kirk Sullivan will face a challenger for the party chair during the GOP state convention June 14^th.  Rod Beck has announced he will square off against Sullivan for the role during the convention in Sandpoint next month.

"I want to serve another term, Mr. Beck has decided to challenge me, and I'm going to work very hard to get reelected on June 14th in Sandpoint,” Sullivan said.

Beck is considered a more conservative member of the party, while Sullivan is generally more moderate.  A large portion of the fight for the chairmanship centers on a movement to close Idaho’s primary.

Some members of the party want to require voters to be registered as Republicans to vote in their primary.  Currently, voters may choose which party primary to cast ballots in on Election Day.

Sullivan said such an idea is not needed – since the GOP has a strong hold on Idaho’s political system.

"Nobody's proven to me yet that there has been a race that has been decided by crossovers,” Sullivan said. “With the results of the elections, where we control 28 of the 35 senate seats, 58 of 70 house seats, all constitutional offices and Federal offices, it's a pretty good track record"

Sullivan said the party will hold a rally Wednesday morning to help foster party unity.

“My philosophy in life is, if it ain't broke don't fix it,” Sullivan said.