The Latah republican, an independent publication which listed affiliations with University of Idaho in its Oct. 23 print edition, is not affiliated to UI.
The makeshift newspaper listed three different websites on its frontpage: www.latah.life, www.latah.republican and www.uidaho.life. Each website directs the viewer to websites sparsely related to the content of the print edition. The inclusion of the phrase “uidaho” in one website URL implied an association to the university. However, this is not the case.
Jodi Walker, the director of communications at UI, confirmed the publication has no relation to the university.
“We were aware of them using “uidaho” in their website URL and are having our legal team try to get the URL removed,” Walker said.
As of Nov. 5, the publication has abandoned www.uidaho.life and removed any reference to UI, Walker said.
When visiting the website, viewers are greeted by two posts by the moderator: an anonymous article titled “Constitution 101: Sheriff Skiles should arrest Mayor Lambert and Chief Fry” and an announcement of the first print edition of the publication. The UI logo next to the posts redirects the user to UI’s athletics page.
Several key Republican figures were featured in the physical publication, including Mark Herr, the president of the Center for Self-Governance; Gabriel Rench, candidate for District 2 Latah County Commissioner; Lt. Governor Janice McGeachin and Ammon Bundy.
The publication advertised several other Republican candidates for election, such as Brandon Mitchell for Idaho House Seat 5A, Caroline Nilsson Troy for Idaho House Seat 5B, Dan Foreman for Idaho Senate and James Hartley for Idaho House Seat 5B.
The content appears to consist entirely of conservative opinion pieces. Topics range from the handling of COVID-19, interpretations of the Constitution, thoughts on gun control and the Second Amendment, Black Lives Matter, pro-life policies and a scathing criticism of the LGBTQ+ community.
Kestrel Realty Group, a Moscow realty company, is the only outside advertisement featured in the newspaper. The morning of the publication’s distribution, the business took to Facebook to condemn the Latah republican, stating it misled Kestrel Realty Group.
“We were solicited for an ad in the paper and were led to believe that it was a non-partisan voter informational guide,” Kestrel Realty Group’s Facebook page stated. “It was not. The views expressed do not represent Kestrel.”
Gabriel Rench, who was featured in the paper, held similar confusion and criticism for the publication. He said a woman named Holly approached him under the email [email protected] for an article feature. Rench was under the impression from Holly’s explanation that he was writing for a voter’s guide, not the type of publication which was printed.
The creators of the Latah republican are unknown and the provided email on its website did not respond to Argonaut staff members for comment. Its websites imply there will be more print editions, but it is not clear when those will be released.
This article has been corrected to clarify the capitalization of the Latah republican and to correct a quote.
Carter Kolpitcke can be reached at [email protected].