The Mountain West Competitiveness Conversation welcomed The Hon. Phil McGrane, Idaho Secretary of State. Introduced by Senior Advisor for Government Affairs for Boise State Mr. Peter Risse, McGrane gave the participants in the Conversation a window into the demographic and political changes driving interstate migration.
In his keynote address concluding the first day of panels at the Mountain West Competitiveness Conversation, Idaho Secretary of State Phil McGrane began by highlighting some of the state’s successes and reasons for optimism. The $15 billion Micron investment through the CHIPS & Science Act is a huge opportunity for the state to grow its semiconductor industry, both creating economic growth for residents and boosting the state’s standing in a critical industry. Combined with investments from Meta, Simplot, Idaho Power, and others, the state has become one of the nation’s fastest growing economies, and all that opportunity has become a major attractor for people nationwide.
The people moving to Idaho are not an even mix of the rest of the country; they skew heavily conservative. It is no secret that Idaho, as a state, tilts conservative and Republican politically. What may be more surprising, though, is the degree to which the same can be said for those moving to Idaho. In an eye-opening display, Secretary McGrane showed a map of the voter affiliations of those moving to the state, based on their state of origin. For 48 out of the 49 other states, the plurality of voters moving to the state were Republicans; the lone exception, Vermont, had Democrats come out on top by only a single new resident. The Secretary described this as evidence of American’s “voting with their feet,” moving to areas that not only offered economic opportunity and quality of life improvements, but also reflected their political beliefs.
“It used to be when you moved, you focused on schools. "Where are my kids going to grow up, and what is the community like?" More and more, we are seeing people say, "Where are the people like me, because I want to be with more of them."
The Hon. Phil McGrane
Idaho Secretary of State
The influx of out-of-state voters has strained the political environment of the state, creating notable disconnections between newcomers and longtime residents. For instance, while water remains a critical and volatile issue affecting farmers and local businesses, it is not receiving the attention it deserves in the state legislature. Instead, more focus has shifted to the grievances and perspectives brought in by newcomers, prompting reactions from established residents. This dynamic has led to both a blending of and conflict between ideologies as the state navigates the presence of newcomers.
A particularly contentious area of debate revolves around the state's relationship with Big Tech. These large firms promise economic opportunity and growth but also require substantial resources and threaten local ways of life. In contrast, the agricultural industry, despite its deeper historical ties to the state, has struggled to compete with external pressures from multinational companies and new voters who may lack a longstanding connection to agriculture.
The possibility of local patterns of life being disrupted is real. In a striking example, the Los Angeles Times spent considerable time covering the mayor’s race in Eagle, Idaho, a Boise suburb. This seemingly bizarre decision makes sense when noted that Eagle, Idaho, is the largest recipient of California public dollars outside of the state, through the pensions of former Californians who have moved there. In fact, the city’s mayor and the majority of its city council are former Californians, amplifying concerns that local residents may be overwhelmed by the political influence of newcomers.
As Idaho deals with a wave of new residents wanting to take part in the state’s growing and dynamic economy, they are bringing with them “political baggage” that has the potential to weigh down the state. It is difficult to stay focused on competitiveness issues when politics becomes divided and polarized by countervailing ideas of what the trajectory of the state should be, and what it ought to prioritize. In Secretary McGrane’s view, a lack of external competition since the end of the Cold War has led to U.S. citizens beginning to turn on each other, leading to our divided and contentious political climate. Perhaps a silver lining of the increasing competition from global adversaries such as China and Russia is that it will force Americans to rediscover how to work together.
