As US presidential election nears, tensions rise in divided states amid voter demographic shift

TENSIONS OVER HARDER-LINE ISSUES

But not everyone in Idaho is happy with the influx of Republicans.

On the streets of state capital city Boise, where Democrats outnumber Republicans, some – such as Idaho Senator and Democrat Melissa Wintrow – told CNA that Republicans’ views trouble them and are pushing Idaho further to the right.

These include harder-line opinions on issues like abortion access, gay rights, and education.

“What I’m afraid of is, with this extreme ideologue, people are moving here because of a perceived ideologue, a perceived political bent,” said Wintrow.

“But really what’s happening is that the majority of Idahoans, that are traditional Republicans who live here, aren’t taking kindly to it.”

Nevertheless, with Idaho being the second-fastest growing state after Utah, real estate agents have been selling Idaho as the place for conservatives to move to if they are looking for others who share their political and ideological viewpoint.

This includes Conservative Move, an organisation of property agents that help people move across state lines to places with conservative values.

“People are conservative-minded, and there are a lot of us who have transplanted here, who felt like they were being pushed out of their state, versus us looking to leave. And that’s what I hear more and more from those who are making inquiries,” said realtors Jason and Kelli Krafsy from Conservative Move.

“They just feel like they don’t fit in their state anymore – and it’s not because they changed. The state changed.”