38 Facts About Janice McGeachin

Janice Kyes McGeachin is an American far-right politician and businesswoman who served as the 43rd lieutenant governor of Idaho from 2019 to 2023.

Janice McGeachin entered politics in 2002 when elected to a seat in the state house.

Janice McGeachin was elected lieutenant governor in the 2018 election, to serve with the governor, Brad Little.

Janice McGeachin is the first female lieutenant governor of Idaho.

Janice McGeachin unsuccessfully challenged Little in the Republican primary for governor in the 2022 election.

Janice McGeachin owns an Irish pub in Idaho Falls and co-owns a wholesale automotive parts supply store and a torque converter remanufacturing facility with her husband.

Janice McGeachin unsuccessfully ran for Bonneville County commissioner in 2000, her first bid for elected office.

An ally of the Tea Party movement, Janice McGeachin was considered a possible Republican primary challenger to US Representative Mike Simpson in 2010, but chose not to run.

Janice McGeachin supported Mitt Romney in the 2008 Republican Party presidential primaries and the 2012 Republican Party presidential primaries.

Janice McGeachin was a delegate for Donald Trump at the 2016 Republican National Convention, and was vice-chair of Trump's Idaho campaign committee.

In February 2019, Janice McGeachin posted a photo on her Facebook page of her posing in front of her Idaho State Capitol door with two members of the Three Percenters, an anti-government militia movement group.

In February 2022, Janice McGeachin appeared as a surprise video guest speaker at the America First Political Action Conference, hosted by prominent white nationalist Nick Fuentes.

Janice McGeachin was apparently one of the highest-ranking elected officials to address the far-right conference.

In 2021, Janice McGeachin convened an "education indoctrination task force" co-chaired by fellow Republican Priscilla Giddings.

Janice McGeachin submitted a supplemental budget request, seeking for that sum to be paid by taxpayer funds.

Separately, Janice McGeachin's attorneys billed her almost $17,000 to defend her in the records lawsuit; Janice McGeachin said in 2022 that the public did not pay for these legal fees.

In late-April 2020, Janice McGeachin urged reopening all businesses in Idaho by April 30, and spoke at a protest in eastern Idaho against stay-at-home directives.

At the rally, Janice McGeachin criticized Little and other state officials.

In November 2020, Janice McGeachin submitted a proposal to Governor Little's Coronavirus Financial Advisory Committee, seeking to spend $17 million in federal COVID-19 aid funds to purchase and operate two "walk-through disinfectant cubes" at the Idaho state Capitol.

Janice McGeachin criticized the governor's coronavirus policies while touting the technology, although a National Institutes of Health study published months earlier determined that the use of "walk-through sanitation gates" was ineffective, possibly dangerous, and violates global health standards.

In July 2020, Janice McGeachin condemned federal economic relief granted during the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, Janice McGeachin's Idaho Falls-based business accepted two partially forgivable loans, totaling $314,727, from the federal Paycheck Protection Program.

In May 2021, after Little left the state to attend a Republican Governors' Association conference in Nashville, Tennessee, making Janice McGeachin acting governor in his absence, she issued an executive order that barred the state and Idaho counties, cities, public school districts, and public universities from adopting mask mandates.

Janice McGeachin issued the order without consulting Little, and against the wishes of state health officials who had sought a statewide mask mandate, which Idaho has never had.

Janice McGeachin has used her office to promote misinformation to disparage COVID-19 vaccines.

In October 2021, while Little was out of state touring the Southern border, Janice McGeachin, claiming power as acting governor in Little's absence, issued an executive order banning state officials from requiring proof of vaccination from employees and sought to ban employers from requiring vaccinations altogether.

Janice McGeachin inquired with the Idaho National Guard about ordering troops to the US-Mexico border that Little was visiting.

Janice McGeachin was an Idaho presidential elector for the Republican slate in 2020, casting one of Idaho's four electoral votes for Donald Trump; the other Idaho electors that year were Melinda Smyser, Raul Labrador, and Rod Beck.

In May 2021, Janice McGeachin filed as a candidate seeking election as governor of Idaho in 2022, challenging incumbent governor Brad Little in the Republican primary.

Janice McGeachin concluded her term as lieutenant governor on January 2,2023.

Janice McGeachin is part of the far-right wing of the Republican Party.

Janice McGeachin appeared at a rally for the Three Percenters, an anti-government militia movement group.

Janice McGeachin opposes Medicaid expansion and was a leading opponent of 2018 Proposition 2, an initiative to expand Medicaid coverage to about 62,000 Idahoans.

Janice McGeachin opposes minimum wages, believing that government should play no role in determining wages.

Janice McGeachin was unopposed for the Republican primary and the general election.

Janice McGeachin was unopposed for the Republican primary and for the general election.

Janice McGeachin was unopposed for the Republican primary and the general election.

Janice McGeachin announced on February 24,2012, that she would not be seeking re-election.