Von Ehlinger among possible proxies for Stevenson
Republican committee picks Army veteran as one nominee, along with men from Culdesac and Lenore, to fill in for state representative who died last week
Army veteran Aaron von Ehlinger was the top choice of local Republican precinct officials to replace Idaho state Rep. Thyra Stevenson.
Ehlinger received the most votes during a nearly two-hour meeting of the 6th Legislative District Republican Central Committee on Monday evening.
Stevenson died May 11, after suffering a heart attack a week earlier. As provided by state law, the 6th District committee nominated three people to fill out the remainder of her term.
Von Ehlinger’s name, together with fellow nominees Glen Baldwin, of Culdesac, and Jim Evans, of Lenore, will now be forwarded to Gov. Brad Little. Little has 15 days to choose one of the three to fill out the remainder of Stevenson’s term.
Von Ehlinger is the only nominee who was already running for the position; he’s challenging Stevenson in today’s primary election.
Stevenson’s name remains on the primary ballot. The election results would normally be available tonight; however, because of concerns about spreading the coronavirus, the primary is being conducted entirely by absentee ballot and the results won’t be tabulated until June 2.
If von Ehlinger wins, he advances to the general election. No Democrat filed for the seat, so, barring an unlikely write-in challenge, he’ll be the new representative for the 6th District, which includes Nez Perce and Lewis counties.
If Stevenson were to win the primary, the 6th District Republican Central Committee will meet a second time and choose someone to replace her on the November ballot.
