Two hundred and fifty years ago this week, a small group of courageous individuals declared that a decent respect for the opinions of mankind required them to state plainly why they were breaking from the most powerful empire on earth. The principles they penned were revolutionary then. In many ways, they remain revolutionary today.
I was recently honored to be nominated and elected as the 2nd Vice-Chair of the Idaho Republican Party. I did not seek this position, but I am grateful for an opportunity to serve. As I have weighed this new responsibility and the work to be done, one phrase keeps coming to mind: Make America Principled Again.
I am a girl who has lived the American dream. I married my favorite ballroom dance partner more than thirty years ago, and he still loves to take me dancing. I earned a bachelor’s degree in education — a field I am genuinely passionate about. I have been blessed with ten remarkable children. My family loves music, friends, and the great Idaho outdoors. We own a small hobby farm complete with a flock of colorful chickens, milking sheep, and a large geothermal greenhouse. We love America deeply and without apology.
That love drove me to serve six years in the Idaho Legislature. Working alongside extraordinary people from all across our state, I passed legislation that protects the fundamental rights of everyday Idahoans: protecting Idaho girls and women by clarifying in law what a woman is, keeping our schools and businesses open during COVID, making it possible for the Idaho Crimes Against Children unit to pursue child pornographers despite AI advancements, shielding private property from forced annexation, expanding rural mental health access, and ensuring local contractors have a fair shot at public construction contracts. I am proud of that record. As I step into this new role, I bring my legislative skill set — along with a committed focus on Idaho’s water future, ongoing work with Idaho Chooses Life, and the consensus-building instincts of a mother of ten.
I was highly effective in the legislature, I believe, for two reasons: the relationships of trust I built across the state and even across the aisle, and because my approach to problems is not simplistic. Every principle has bounds that must be understood and respected. The Declaration of Independence itself embodies this: its authors did not merely assert freedom; they carefully articulated the principles that uphold it, the grievances that had been ignored, and the purposes that government is created to serve.
The Idaho GOP platform gives voice to those timeless principles today. Its preamble declares: “We believe the strength of our nation lies with our faith and reliance on God our Creator, the individual, and the family; and that each person’s dignity, freedom, ability and responsibility must be honored.” Faith. The individual. The family. Dignity. Freedom. Responsibility. These are not partisan talking points. These words express the philosophical inheritance of every American — ideals America’s Founders risked their lives for 250 years ago this week.
But words alone do not govern. People do. And right now, too many good people are retreating from the political arena, exhausted by the noise and nastiness of modern politics. Some are even tempted to turn their backs on party platforms altogether — to dismiss principled debate as futile. I understand the impulse. But the answer is not to walk away. It is to engage more fully, and with genuine respect in the civil discourse that produces collective wisdom.
This is the core purpose of the Idaho Republican Party: to articulate, debate, refine, and advocate for the timeless principles that make ordered liberty possible. The principles we reach for are perfect, even when our words fall short — and the peace and prosperity of America depends on a citizenry that understands and applies those principles.
This 4th of July, as fireworks light the Idaho sky and families gather around kitchen tables and American flags, pause to remember what our Founders actually declared: not just independence, but its foundations — a careful, principled accounting of what it means to be free. That conversation is the essence of self-government — and it is never finished. John Quincy Adams made the same point two centuries ago, calling the Declaration of Independence “the ark of your covenant” and urging Americans to “lay up these principles in your hearts and in your souls — cling to them as to the issues of life.” That charge has not expired.
If we do our work well — with honesty, humility, and the blessing of God — we will effectively advocate for timeless principles that are good and true. And when America is good, she will also be great.