Leather-clad, semi-toothless biker steals the show in Idaho gubernatorial debate

Leather-clad, semi-toothless biker steals the show in Idaho gubernatorial debate

The above headline may be untrue, but only because a home-schoolin', anti-abortion crusader who looks like an 1800s gold prospector was also part of the debate. Bear with me.

Three candidates are challenging incumbent Gov. C.L. Butch Otter (R) in a GOP primary, including state Sen. Russ Fulcher. The other two challengers are — let's just say their credentials aren't quite so impressive; The Associated Press describes them as "colorful outliers."

First, there's Walt Bayes, a frequent candidate whose primary reason for running is to stop abortions. His second priority: Telling the feds that "wolves are flat not interstate commerce."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Then there's the aptly-named Harley Brown, a "former stand-up comic and stag party master-of-ceremonies" whose campaign website appears to have traveled forward in time from 1996 to impart such "Harleyisms" as "Democrats piss me off" and "God, how I wish we had picked our own cotton." (Understandably, debate moderators instituted a 30-second delay, just in case.)

Did I mention that Brown thinks God told him he will be president? Brown thinks God told him he will be president.

The debate did not fail to disappoint. --Jon Terbush

Explore More
Jon Terbush

Jon Terbush is an associate editor at TheWeek.com covering politics, sports, and other things he finds interesting. He has previously written for Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, and Business Insider.