BOISE, Idaho — Mike Simpson has won the Republican primary for Idaho’s 2nd Congressional District.
Simpson, who has been in office since 1999, defeated Kevin Rhoades, a Boise resident and small businessman.
Rhoades tried to position himself to the right of Simpson. But Simpson has a long history of bringing in federal dollars for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory, one of the largest employers in Simpson’s district as well as the state.
President Donald Trump endorsed Simpson in a tweet earlier on Tuesday.
Idaho’s 2020 primary became the state’s first mail-in primary due to the coronavirus pandemic, and then a ruling in a federal lawsuit gave voters an extra week to request ballots.
Simpson will be a heavy favorite in the fall. He will face Democrat C. Aaron Swisher in the fall, who ran unopposed in the primary.
