Idaho Elected Officials, Multimillionaire Romney Backer VanderSloot Head To RNC
Mladen Antonov / AFP/Getty Images
Workers prepare the main stage ahead of the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida.
Many prominent Idaho Republicans are packing their bags and heading to Tampa for the 2012 Republican National Convention.
The list of Idaho delegates includes Gov. C.L. “Butch” and Lori Otter, Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna, and multimillionaire Romney backers Frank and Belinda VanderSloot. The full list is available here.
The Romney Campaign designated most of the delegates, says the Idaho Republican Party’s Trevor Thorpe, but three were selected by the party’s nominating committee and three more automatically attend based on their leadership positions. All pay their own costs of travel, Thorpe says.
Among those selected by the nominating committee is 88-year-old Ruthie Johnson of Hayden Lake, Idaho, who attended her first convention in 1964, in San Francisco. She was simply a curious visitor then, but by 1968 she was an alternate delegate, and she has attended every Republican convention since.
“I’ve just been interested in politics, and I wanted to know for myself what was happening, not just in bits and pieces on the news,” Johnson explains. And her enthusiasm hasn’t waned. She’ll catch her flight to Florida very early Saturday. “I’ll land in Tampa if the weather doesn’t beat me to it!” she says.
Here’s the Idaho delegates’ official schedule of events:
Monday 27 August
9:30am AT&T sponsored breakfast-Del/Alt – no charge
12:00 pickup for Business Meeting-Delegates/Alternates
4:00 pickup for first general session-Delegation/guestsTuesday 28 August
8:00 60Plus breakfast with Pat Boone-no charge
1:00pm pick up for Service project
2:30pm return to hotel
5:00pm pickup for evening session
12:00am-2:00am Nite Owl Reception-Delegation Hotel- no chargeWednesday 29 August
9:00am Idaho Delegation Breakfast-Del/Alt/guests-our hotel-Paid by fee
3:00pm Melaleuca Early Dinner for Del/Alt/guests-our hotel-no charge
5:00pm Pickup for evening session, Session 7:30-11:00pm each nightThursday 30 August
9:00am BNSF Railway Breakfast-Delegation Hotel-Del/Alt/guest-no charge
5:00pm pickup for the last evening session
7:00pm Delegation only photo in the convention arena .
7:30pm—Last session begins
